Survival of the Fittest
by divergentFREAK24
Summary: For a long time, they've been watched, chosen, assigned by June 17, and they've been captured. But now it's time for them to survive. Overall, the main game is called, Survival of the Fittest. 2 teams, many mini-games; Elimination or victory awaits. It's time to play and there's no turning back.
1. Chapter 1

**PROFILE OF THE CHOSEN**

 **NAME: Beatrice Prior**

 **AGE: 19**

 **FAMILY STATUS:**

 **-Andrew Prior and Natalie Prior- Killed in Car Accident by Teen**

 **-Caleb Prior- Finished Army Training and Married**

 **HANGOUTS: Library, Home, Coffee Shop**

 **TESTER: #6 GROUP B**

 **DATE OF ASSIGNED CAPTURE: June 17**

* * *

It was supposed to be a normal day for Tris.

June 17. Summer. No school. What could be worse?

Well, except for the fact that she didn't have any family to spend her vacation with.

But little did she know, that her very life could change just by making the wrong turn.

Tris was sitting in her room, comfortable and chilled by the AC running when it happened.

She was actually playing a Minecraft mini-game with other players when her Skype popped up while on line with someone.

 _That's_ _weird_ , Tris thought, _I'm not even calling anyone._

She moved her fingers across the little mouse pad to the top right where the red X resided when a loud screech came from her speakers.

She was suddenly on a video chat with someone.

But there was no face, just a blue default profile

Tris' face scrunches into confusion and small worry.

"What is going on?" She whispered to herself quietly under her breath.

She moved to end the call when her face camera lit up, reflecting her bluish-grey eyes and blond hair.

 **DON'T** **END** **THE CALL**. The person had typed.

Tris jumped involuntarily. She didn't know whether the creepy part was the immediate text, or the fact that it knew what she was just about to do.

 **You are going to follow my directions. And you are going to follow them _now_. ** It ordered.

Tris huffs in annoyance and moves the little cursor over to the "Sign Out" button- when the person rapidly sends a message.

 **DON'T END THE CALL! IF YOU SIGN OUT..**

Tris pauses and holds her breath.

 **IF YOU SIGN OUT.. You'll die**

 _This needs to be a goddamn prank._ Tris told herself- but she wasn't assured by it anymore.

 **Listen. To. Me.**

Tris shakes her shoulders to loosen the sudden heaviness she feels.

To assure herself nothing was seriously wrong, she spoke, trying to gather up all her strength. "Okay, I'm listening."

 **Good.**

 _Um, how did they just hear me?_ She thinks in bewilderment.

 **...Let's play a short game.**

 **Lights Out ;)**

Suddenly, every light bulb in Tris' apartment fuses and she lets out a scream.

It was something she never did.

 **The cold bids you a good bye.**

Tris' AC that was running slowly turns off.

 **Transfer this to your phone.**

Not wanting to take any chances, Tris grabs her phone and gets the person on Skype from her Laptop.

Her Laptop shuts down and now whoever was sending messages was on her phone.

 **You're very good at directions.**

Tris takes a shaky breath. "T-Thank you."

 **Let's continue.**

 **Walk outside.**

Tris finds herself moving to grab her shoes, then walking out of her apartment and into the warm weather outside.

She sees a black flash of clothing gasps. "What was that?!"

 **We are watching you. One wrong move, your soul will be meeting your Maker.**

Tris tenses and shuts her eyes tightly.

Her phone vibrates.

 **Let's play another game. It's called Simon says.**

 **Simon says, walk forward to the curb.**

Tris moves to the curb quickly.

And so it began, Simon says, and Tris follows every instruction.

She ends up at the beginning of a forest trail.

 **Simon says, now walk forward.**

Tris brings one foot in front of the other into a straight line until she ends up at 2 curves.

Left and Right.

 **Turn Right.**

So she makes the biggest mistake of her life.

She turns right.

The last thing she sees before feeling a sharp pain is 2 other messages.

 **I didn't say Simon says.**

 **GAME OVER.**

* * *

Tris groans and opens her eyes while squinting. She has a head ache.

The moment Tris' fuzzy vision clears she bolts up.

She's in a bed. Where? She did not know.

She remembered the earlier events of someone hacking into her laptop. Frantically, she whips her head around to get an idea of where she was.

-It was one of the first things Caleb, her brother, had taught her to do.

 _Always know your surroundings._

Tris gets up and moves her hand frustratingly to rake through her hair when she spots something shiny.

A mirror.

She walks toward it and inhales a sharp breath when she spots herself.

Someone had changed her clothes.

She didn't know whether to feel thankful or extremely mortified.

Tris was wearing Gladiator sandals that reached her knees, black denim shorts, a black t-shirt hoodie, and her hair was in a mess yet it looked neat. She spotted, on her shoulder, that near the tattoo of three black ravens on her collar bone was a number and some words.

She squinted and came up with this. **#6 Group B**

What? Was she a test subject? Tris shook her head and finally looked at her face.

Her bangs covered her eyes. As she brushed them back, she discovered that her eyes had been lined with eyeliner and mascara that gave her boring eyes a blue dangerous look.

Tris, for once, actually felt pretty.

Except, when studying herself more carefully, she also felt like some type of killer or gladiator

And killers played dangerous games.

Tris turned around and surveyed the room she was in.

There was one light bulb hanging from a thin wire, concrete walls, no windows, and one black door.

Tris takes a deep breath and walks over to it.

 _Please don't be like the movies where I spot a ghost behind this door._ She thinks to herself.

Tris slowly turns the knob and immediately yelps as a loud screech sounds from in front of her.

There's a bright light, Tris squints so that her eyes can adjust.

It's a screen. And it has writing on it.

Tris inches forward and begins to read.

It's the same person that hacked into her laptop.

 **Oh Goody, another game. However, this one, seems to be the real deal. It's called, *Survival Of the Fittest*. There are 2 groups, A and B. 5 boys and 5 girls in each. Go meet your other teammates in the Cafeteria. There will be injuries, there will be death, but play it right, you survive and win.**

 **Automatic disqualification if cheating with the opposite team.**

"Another game." Tris whispers. "They're dressing me up like a doll and forcing me to play their game."

She looks down the long, dark corridor where supposedly, a door marked _Cafeteria_ lies.

 _Please tell me this is just a dream. If not, then a prank._ She thinks pleadingly to herself as she takes a deep breath and begins walking down the hall.

Tris drags her hand across the wall since it's dark.

Her fingertips touch something solid and cool.

Tris looks up.

It's the door to the Cafeteria.

* * *

 ** _A/N ●● Like the story so far? Tell me how I'm doing, drop a review! Should I continue?_**


	2. Chapter 2

**_A/N ●● So one of you guys asked about how this story 'came to be'. Hmmmm. There's a ton to say, but I'll try and shorten it. Well, if there's a book about this specific idea, I have no clue, but originally, I decided to make this story because I saw the 'Unfriended' trailer and that's how I wrote the very first chapter. (Only the Skype thingy part or whatever, I didn't watch the movie, only the trailer.)_**

 ** _Then, the idea of Survival of the Fittest itself was just from a brief review in Social Studies! LOL, you know, the monopoly thing where businesses try to eliminate the weaker competition until there's one main business? Well, yeah, it got me thinking that what if I took out the 'business' part and used people? That would make a cool story!_**

 ** _And finally, Survival of the fittest COULD have been a good and healthy competition, but I was getting SO much AWESOME feedback from my other story whenever I put a creepy chapter and so I decided that since I actually LOVED to write in that theme, then the games will be HORROR and SUSPENSEFUL and GRUESOME!_**

 ** _Yeah, This is what I learn from school... Sorry for this huge ass paragraph of an answer! Told you there's a ton to say!_**

 ** _Anywayyyyyy, Back to the second chapterrrrrrrr!_**

* * *

Tris steps forward and pushes the door to the cafeteria open.

The moment she enters, a bunch of heads turn to look at her.

19 heads, to be exact, and they all look about her age.

There's two tables that are marked 'A' and 'B' and it seems as though it's color coded.

Blue for 'A' and Black for 'B'.

That explains Tris' black uniform.

She looks up and sees a huge screen again.

 **So you came to the Cafeteria! Welcome! Here are the 2 teams. A and B. If you are in Group A, please sit on the Blue table. If B, then sit on the black table. Once everyone is seated we will begin the new set of instructions.**

 _Oh. Am I the last one?_ Tris asks herself.

She slowly walks over to the black table and sits on the very edge of the bench.

A boy with chocolate skin sits to her right.

There's a loud screech and Tris jolts a bit. The screen changes into a new set of words.

 **So the last person has finally come.-**

Everyone glances at Tris. She slides down from the bench a bit to hide herself.

 **As you know, there are 20 people in total. 10 from Group A and 10 from Group B.**

Tris quickly does a head count.

 _...17...18...19... And me. 20._

A ping sounds and Tris looks back up at the screen.

 **. Now let's get started with the game! As you've already read, the name of this game is called, Survival Of The Fittest. In this game, there's the 2 groups, of course. If you look near the side of the cafeteria, there's another big screen with a lever next to it.**

Everyone stops reading to look over at the big screen with a red lever next to it.

 **What's going to happen is that we're going to ask for a volunteer each day to pull the lever. Either 2 or 4 names will pop up. This means that the players will face 1 vs 1 or 2 vs 2. When the names show up, we will give those specific people their task, or also known as, a mini game.**

Tris cringes as she remembers that the last thing she was doing in her home was playing a Minecraft mini game.

 **The rest of the group members that have not been chosen will sit in the observation room where they will be able to see both teams' cameras.**

 **And no, there is no communication**

 **Whatever conversation goes on during the games is from either a group's teammates or the interaction between 2 teams.**

 **Here is the list of names for each group, get to know everyone!**

 **GROUP A:**

 **• Lauren**

 **• Eric**

 **• Peter**

 **• Drew**

 **• Myra**

 **• Matthew**

 **• Nita**

 **• Molly**

 **• Rita**

 **• Fernando**

 **GROUP B:**

 **○ Tris**

 **○ Four**

 **○ Zeke**

 **○ Shauna**

 **○ Marlene**

 **○ Uriah**

 **○ Will**

 **○ Christina**

 **○ Lynn**

 **○ Al**

Everyone is silent as they read the names of their teammates or enemies.

The boy next to Tris nudges her. "I'm Uriah." He whispers with a friendly smile.

Tris quickly contemplates on whether she should speak to him or not.

She did not like interacting with people after her parents had-

 _O_ _h f_ _ucking screw it._ She tells herself.

"I'm Tris." She says quietly.

Uriah nods and smiles at her. Though she wasn't used to it, she gives a quick, small smile back.

Tris was not in the mood for acting so oblivious to their situation at hand, but after thinking about the creepy area she was in, she decided that she liked how Uriah was at least talking to her.

 _I guess I have to start being friendly, seeing as everyone on this table is my teammate._ Tris thinks to herself.

There's a loud ping again.

 **Assuming you all have finished reading, now for the fun part again. We're going to get you into your rooms. We will pick your roommates and we will pick your room. There's no way to change them once picked. Hope you've gotten used to the dark. It will be happening a lot.**

Tris gasps as a sharp pain hits her neck.

Within seconds, she's knocked out, along with everyone else in the room.

She thought one thing, however, before the darkness consumed her.

She did not like to be out of control.

* * *

 _ **Same thing as last time, if you like this story so far, DROP A REVIEW ^-^ .**_

 _ **How am I doing? AND THANK YOU FOR ALL UR AWESOME REVIEWS!**_

 ** _THEY TOTALLY MAKE MY DAY!_**

 ** _This is my second fanfic, so I'm finally getting a hang of this._**

 ** _*sigh* Gosh, sometimes I wish I could just jump into the action!_**

 ** _BTW, Again, sorry for that huge paragraph in the beginning!_**

 ** _And this was a short chapter! :'( , Don't worry, the next one will be long!_**

 ** _~divergentFREAK24_**


	3. Chapter 3

Tris slowly opens her eyes to be met with a white ceiling.

She pushes her body up from the bed she's on and rubs at her sore neck.

 _How many freaking times are they going to keep-_

"What's your name?" A deep voice asks.

It catches her off guard, it also stops her train of thought.

Tris immediately jumps into a position of defense when she then realizes that a male is sitting on another bed next to her.

"Um. Tris." She says breathlessly while raking a shaky hand through her hair. "My name's Tris."

She carefully looks up at him and her breath is taken away.

The male that's in front of her has the most majestic dark blue eyes that look as though they're clouded with secrets.

His hair is a dark brown, his muscles are perfectly proportioned, and he's so freaking hot.

"Tris. That's a nice name. Catchy. Attractive." He answers with a smirk.

Nice. By that stupid smirk he wears and that certain glint of an eye, she realizes that her roomate, is going to be the most annoying person on the planet.

 _Wow. Just. Great. The best place to be in with someone who'll probably never stop talking to me._ Tris groans to herself.

"And what's your name?" She asks with a now bored expression.

"Four."

 _A number for a name but okay, I probably shouldn't ask since I used a a nickname also._ Tris tells herself.

Tris nods and looks around the room where there's 2 drawers filled with black clothes, a sofa, a sink, a fridge, a stove, an oven, a bathroom, and a screen.

They were in a mini-house.

And as if it wasn't weird enough, she could still feel Four staring at her.

The hairs on her neck bristled.

Tris flopped back on the bed again when her head hits something hard. "Ow! The hell?!" She curses.

As Tris turned to look at her pillow she notices something black looking.

A phone. It wasn't hers. But it said her name on it.

Tris doesn't even touch it. She was too scared to even try to unlock it or even call 911.

She buries her head into the pillow and shuts her eyes tightly.

What was happening? Let's see, her parents died in a car crash when she was 17, her brother came back from the army and got married about a year after their parents' death, so in a way he left her alone, and now she was kidnapped! She could only hope this was a prank.

Tris played Minecraft to get her mind off the problems of her life.

But this... This wasn't even a huge problem...

This was a nightmare.

 _Because EVERY girl would like to get kidnapped at 19 years old!_ Tris tells herself sarcastically.

Tris heard a 'click' and immediately got up again.

The screen had something.

 **We've moved you all in a room with your own roommate. Know that the roommates we have chosen will highly effect your results for the games so do not make them your enemy, for they need to be your friend.**

 **You've all been watched. You've all been chosen for your skills and cleverness. You've all been bought here. And you will all try to survive, for the game is called, Survival of the Fittest.**

 **You've heard it a few times.**

 **Now you will play it.**

 **We will start the first mini game in exactly 10 minutes. Try to get a nap to freshen up, you've been knocked out for a couple of hours-And make sure to go to the cafeteria again to find out how the games will work in more detail.**

Tris reads the bottom left corner and spots a timer.

 _ **Time Until Next Mini Game- 00:9:10**_

"About 9 more minutes." Tris whispers to herself quietly.

Four glances over at her since she spoke, but then raises his hands in defense and looks away when Tris gives him an intimidating look.

 _Oh God, he is really hot, attractive, and-_

 _What the fuck?_

Tris commands those thoughts away in disgust.

She never felt like this around a boy, they were usually perverts, but what the hell was going on now?

She was freaking kidnapped for God's sake!

But... Four was her roommate, and her teammate. She had to know him and get along.

"So," Tris says to him. "We've been watched and we didn't even know it. Do you think there's still a chance this is a prank?"

Four gives her a genuinely confused look. "Really? A prank? Tris, If this was a prank it would've been far over by now."

Tris looks down at an imaginary crease on her shirt. _Dammit, why am I even trying to talk to this guy?!_ she screams at herself. _There's no HOPE!_

Something in the way he'd said it made Tris accept that the chance of their 'kidnapping' was no prank at all.

Four gets up from the bed and grabs an identical phone to hers but with **FOUR** printed on the back of the phone cover.

Tris curiously watches him as he unlocks it and begins to scroll through something that she can't see.

"Shit. They blocked off our calling-"

"Do you have anyone at home that's waiting for you? Like, family?" Tris interrupts, not wanting to hear about how gruesome their situation was.

Four slowly looks up at her with a weird expression. After a moment, he answers, "No. I don't have anyone expecting me. I live alone. Don't really live with my parents, you know?"

"Yeah. You live alone. No one would even _notice_ you're gone." She sighs.

Tris waits for Four to object that last sentence, but he doesn't.

Tris looks at the screen.

 _ **Time Until Next Mini Game- 00:05:09**_

"Damn. Now there's 5 minutes." She sighs.

Four rakes a hand through his hair and looks over at Tris again. "You know, we should probably get going to the cafeteria now... To eat, obviously."

A smile again.

Tris rolls her eyes. "You mean, to see what game we're playing? The one supposedly _dangerous_ game where we need to _survive_?" she states grimly and with no humor.

She swings her legs from the bed and walks out the door with Four quickly following behind after a moment of standing speechlessly.

"Sheesh. No need to be so hard about it." Four mutters.

Tris rolls her eyes and punches his arm lightly. "You know, life is always gonna be a bitch, so accept it."

Four quickly paces a few steps and stops in front of her, blocking her way.

"Are you one of those girls that are like, all closed off and like, bad-ass, but then on the inside they're totally beautiful and funny and young and-"

"So I'm not young, I'm old. I'm not beautiful, I'm ugly. I'm not funny, I'm boring. Thank you for letting me know, I'll keep that in mind." Tris answers as she ticks off each characteristic with her fingers.

Four slowly raises a hand and smacks it on his forehead. "Damn. I didn't mean it like that, sorry, I meant- Oh God this is getting confusing."

Tris raises a brow and laughs quietly. "Yep. For you and me both."

Four crosses his arms across his chest. "Well, whatever. I guess in general, what I'm trying to say is that you're totally going to play 'hard to get'."

Tris sighs. "The thing is, Number Boy, you're not gonna get me at all. Now come on, don't get too attached to me, it could be the last time you ever talk to me today, or the last day I ever talk to you. Seeing as this game is supposed to be a big deal.."

"I'm going to ignore that last comment. And yes, I'll get you. No one can resist this guy here." He answers with a confident smirk as he gestures toward his body.

They both smile, but now it's forced.

As they walk, Tris can't help but notice how tense they both are, and after her last remark of either of them possibly dying today, Four keeps a close distance. This place isn't safe.

 _'They'_ could always be watching.

As they enter the cafeteria, a familiar voice calls out her name.

Tris looks over at the black table and smiles at Uriah who's beckoning her over. As she walks in his direction, Four pauses in his step, but then walks over to a boy sort of similar looking to Uriah but not really.

Tris slides onto the seat next to Uriah with a tensed smile. "Hi."

"Hey. Is Four seriously your roommate?"

"Um.. Yeah. How do you know him?"

Uriah pauses briefly. "Well... I won't give you the details, you probably already have an idea, but, we were all together when _it_ happened."

There's a moment of painful silence.

Tris clears her throat. "Yeah, well, now this just got kinda awkward and grim..."

Uriah chuckles lightly and puts an arm around Tris. "Don't worry, Uriah at your service, best entertainer! Anyway, this is my not so entertaining roommate, Marlene."

Marlene glares at Uriah and immediately gives a cheerful smile to Tris. "Hello!"

Tris laughs at her enthusiasm. "Hey Marlene."

"So I understand that you got the hot guy as your roommate?"

Tris laughs again and shakes her head. "Sure? I don't know."

"You don't know? Dude, look at every boy and tell me he's not the hottest of them all."

Tris glances over at Four and watches him laugh at something that was said.

Consequently, Four looks over at her and catches her gaze, but it doesn't last long. A loud screech shuts the whole cafeteria up.

 **And now we begin our game, Survival of the Fittest. Here's what will happen. There's a lever in the back of the room with a screen. Pull the lever, and one name from each team will appear. This means that whosoevers names pop up, they will be playing against eachother with a minigame.**

 **The minigames will be challenging- and as you've already read, there will be injuries, there will be death, but play it right, and you win.**

 **But _what_ are the rules?**

 **Well, there are only two.**

 **1.) Don't cheat with the other team.**

 **2.) Survive the task given.**

 **Yes, that's it. Try to survive by getting all the way to the glowing red button that will be marked.**

 **Whoever presses it in any mini game _first_ will win.**

 **Don't be surprised if your teammate doesn't make their way back in time.**

 **And what will the people who haven't been chosen do?**

 **They'll be put in the Observation Room where they will watch their teammate fight for their survival, or victory.**

 **Now who will be a good volunteer and pull the lever?**

As Tris finishes the final sentence, she is absolutely shocked.

She knew they were going to need to survive-

\- But this was like, a do or _die_ game!

Now she's worried. Just earlier, she told Four it could be either of their last days.

She was just being a bit sarcastic, but now she could be proved right.

The boy that looked like Uriah stands up. She decides to tell him that.

"You know, he looks like you." Tris whispers quietly to Uriah.

Uriah looks a bit weary as he watches the guy begin walking, but then smiles a bit at Tris. "Hmm. I wouldn't say he looks like me, since I'm way hotter, but he's my brother, Zeke."

Tris nods and glances at Uriah again when he speaks. "The thing is... He's pulling the _lever_."

Tris notices the way Uriah is starting to freak out.

"Well, I think it's safe to say he's pretty damn brave if he's volunteering, Uriah." She offers.

Her gaze follows Zeke as he slowly walks toward the lever that will decide it all.

She gives Uriah's shoulder a light squeeze since he looks fearful for his own brother.

Tris notices the way Zeke shakily places his hands on the lever, the way the whole cafeteria is silent, the way the tension is so thick in the room that it can't even be sliced with a knife.

As Zeke pulls the lever, Tris wipes her palms on her legs to get rid of the sweat that had gathered there, and there's a series of clicks as the screen begins to pick the 2 names for the groups that will go against each other for victory, or if played wrong, death.

There's a final tick that sounds, and then the screen lights up brightly with bold letters.

Tris feels like she'll throw up as she reads them, and she leans away from Uriah just in case.

 **GROUP A : PETER**

 **GROUP B : TRIS**

* * *

 ** _A/N. BAM! THERE we go. She's chosen. Four has been introduced, and now we will begin the truth of what this game really means._**

 ** _Your reviews are absolutely amazing! Never expected this support!_**

 ** _Drop a review plz and tell me how ur feeling! Hope you like the story so far, I'm trying to make this suspenseful! Hope this was long for ur liking ;)... Well, probably not, but I have to divide the story up so yeah, this is pretty long..._**

 ** _Kk, BYEEEEEE!_**


	4. Chapter 4

**If your name has been chosen, please walk to the front of the room.**

Tris glances at Uriah with an expression of disbelief.

 _It's me. It's me. Out of everyone, it's. fucking. me._ She thinks to herself as she weakly gets up and commands her feet to move away from the table.

A boy the same age as her stiffly walks to the front of the room as well. Peter.

They both glance at each other and though Tris sees the wariness in his emerald green eyes, she also notices the disgusting and murderous mischief in them.

 _Yes, he will do what it takes to win this._ She tells herself.

 **Walk into the doorway that will appear- Everyone else, go into the Observation Room which is in the back of the cafeteria.**

Tris looks behind her to see Marlene flashing her a small smile of reassurance. Uriah does the same.

Four catches her eye and though he has a concerned look for a flicker of a second, he masks it into a reassuring smile and gives her a thumbs up.

Near the front, the wall glows a white color and a door slowly slides to the right, revealing a dark hall to which they can see no more.

Tris tightens her jaw as she hears a door close, which means everyone has probably left, and is now monitoring both herself and Peter from the Observation room.

"Do we enter?" Peter asks, though his eyes give a chilling stare.

Tris immediately turns on her intimidation mode.

"Well, let's see, I mean, we probably shouldn't go even though the instructions were, _walk into the doorway that will appear._ " She replies sarcastically, offering no kindness.

Tris doesn't wait for Peter, she simply walks ahead and into the doorway.

When Peter finally enters as well, there's a loud click and then, advanced pitch black darkness.

Tris holds her breath as she waits for something to happen.

Then, without warning, the whole place lights up, and it's like she has entered another world.

Whatever they enter is no room, it's like, a new land or terrain.

Grassy fields, water ponds, trees, bushes, flowers, rocks.

"Oh my God, this place is immense." She whispers under her breath, but it comes out louder than she meant it to.

 _What the hell are we supposed to do?_ Tris thinks dreadfully.

"What now!?" Peter calls out loudly, voicing her thoughts.

There's a loud screech and Tris closes her eyes and winces from the noise. When she opens them again, there's a sign that has appeared in front of them with...

Tris pauses in surprise.

There's a sign with 2 guns resting in front of them.

 **Here, you have entered an area where you have been given 2 loaded guns, one for each Group member. You may do whatever it takes, to slam that hidden red button, and claim victory.**

 **Even if acheiving it means death.**

Peter, wastes no time after finishing the last sentence.

Neither does Tris.

At exactly the same time they both snatch a gun and run the opposite way from each other.

Tris immediately jumps over a couple of rocks and rolls behind a large tree.

She atleast thought that Peter would be a bit lenient on her, but damn, he doesn't give a fuck, he'll obviously kill her to win.

And she needs that attitude too.

However, it's also a time to be strategic with planning.

Her thoughts immediately go to Caleb, and the first instruction materializes into her mind.

First, she needed to know her surroundings.

Tris looks up and studies the tree she's hiding behind.

The branches are pretty low, but sturdy, and there are many leaves so Peter would probably not be able to see her.

 _Okay, all you'll do is climb the tree, scope the area, and get back in the game._ Tris tells herself.

After a taking a deep breath, she stands on the biggest root to give her a slight boost, and then jumps for the branch.

Tris immediately tightens her hands on the branch as soon as it comes in her grasp, and she let's out a deep breath because she is relieved that even with her short height, she managed to grab it.

She slowly swings her legs up and pushes herself up until she is straddling the branch.

After leaning against the trunk, she slowly stands up and climbs a bit higher.

As Tris climbs, she is surprised to see, that actually, this area that they are in has an obstacle course.

And Peter is ahead of her.

Before her brain tells her to jump off and run, she quickly studies the course, there's a river with rocks, a wall to get over, and something that she can't make out!

Tris quickly climbs down and fixes her gladiator sandals. It was not the best to be running in, but it would and _could_ do.

Tris's quickly begins a jog and runs in the direction of the obstacle course.

No later than 2 minutes of jogging, she is met with a huge gushing river with rocks scattered throughout, as a path.

Tris ducks down to grab a long piece of grass, and ties her hair into the sloppiest ponytail.

After a deep breath, she jumps over to the first rock. Thankfully, she doesn't slip down and she continues her speed until she reaches the other side of the river.

Next, was a really tall wall.

Tris looks around and sees that the wall must continue forever, so running around it was no option.

Frustrated and frantic, Tris spots a vine hanging from the wall.

 _Stupid, stupid. Wasting too much time._ She yells at herself.

Tris crosses one arm across the other and does a quick stretch.

Then, she begins to climb the vine.

It felt so weird to her, she could easily do the course like it was made for her.

After getting on top of the wall, she quickly slides down.

And that's when she sees Peter pointing a gun at her.

"Well, you seem pretty fast at this course." Peter hisses at her with a wicked smile.

Tris reaches for her own gun at the back of her pocket, and pulls it out.

"You know, I'd be real surprised if you killed me now. I mean, that'd just mean you're a coward and that you were too afraid of me beating you. Because, well, let's admit it. If you haven't realized, whoever made this game is obviously expecting _me_ to win. Not you." She simply answers, knowing she's got him all angry and fuming.

That's good... Or maybe bad, because with anger comes a mind that does not control his thinking properly.

Tris immediately dives for the ground as Peter fires the first shot.

It's loud and hurts her ears, but she ignores it and begins to run.

Ahead of her, she can see that she'll need to be rock climbing.

Tris can hear Peter's furious steps running after her, and she quickly puts on her harness and helmet.

Peter laughs. "Let's see how you climb with one arm."

Before Tris can react, there's a bang and the bullet connects with her shoulder.

She stuffs her shirt into her mouth and gives a muffled scream of pain.

Tears brim at her eyes, but she pulls her gun with her left arm and tries to focus from the searing pain.

Peter is no longer paying attention. So when the bullet she fires connects with his foot, he screams loudly and drops his harness.

This is when Tris stuffs her gun into her back pocket and begins to climb.

Her shoulder is making her vision blurry, and it's so hard for her to focus, but she rips a piece of her sleeve and uses her teeth and left arm to tie it at her shoulder.

Instead of using her right arm to climb, she leans against the rope that's connected with her harness and uses her left arm to carry her body weight.

She doesn't look back at the sudden silence, she's afraid of what she'll see.

Then comes a point where the wall has a huge hump, and Tris has to use both arms to climb over it.

She takes a chance to stop climbing and look at her shoulder that's gushing with blood, even through the cloth.

 _Fuck it, I can't waste time._ She tells herself, then she clenches her teeth and uses both arms to pull herself over the hump.

She feels a tear from her shoulder, but she ignores it and finally makes it on top of the hump.

Her vision now has black spots swimming in front her and her head feels so light, she thinks she'll faint, but she continues to climb until she makes it over the wall and to a new level of terrain.

Tris rips off the harness and helmet, then starts to run like there's death chasing her.

Because it actually is.

And that is when she sees a beautiful, ruby red glow coming from a mile away from her.

Tris takes this opportunity to look back, she doesn't see Peter, so after having that reassurance, she pictures herself in school where she's trying out for Track, and she needs to run the mile under the time of 6 minutes and 30 seconds.

Kneel, deep breath, look up, and 3, 2, 1, _run._

Tris runs as though she's never run before. _deep breath deep breath deep breath._ She chants in her head.

1 minute.

2 minutes.

3 minutes.

4 minutes.

5 minutes.

The beautiful button awaits.

Just 10 more steps and she'll-

A bullet sears through her skin near her hip and she screams as she weakly slumps to the ground.

Peter is crawling as fast as he can towards the button with his gun thrown to the side.

They only have 3 bullets, and she has 2 left.

Tris can't seem to use her senses, any minute, she'll be knocked out, but whatever would happen, she could not let Peter win.

Wiping away her tears and trying to regain control of her self, Tris grabs her gun and points it at the moving figure a few feet away from her.

A pull of the trigger, a kick of the gun, and she watches as wood explodes into pieces from the tree she hit.

 _No no no no no! Get up and SHOOT! Come one PLEASE!_ Tris begs herself.

Tris pushes herself into a standing position, stands with her feet apart, shoulders loose, and she forgets her pain.

This time, the bang and scream of pain is so satisfying, that Tris even begins to laugh.

She was going mad, but she didn't care.

Finally, as Peter clutches his stomach, Tris falls to her knees and begins to crawl toward the button.

She couldn't believe it, she was going to _win._

When she was right in front of the button, she forces herself to sit up and reach for it,

Peter slams himself on top of Tris and holds her struggling body down.

" _You Bitch. I will kill you before you black out, I will make sure you feel the pain._ " He seethes.

Tris screams as he slams his hand into her shoulder.

The pain is so unbearable, she wanted it to _end._

She wanted to _die._

Peter gets up into a sitting position and forces his knee into her hip where her bullet wound was.

 _That's it, I don't care, I'm dying, it's too unbearable. I am on fire._ Tris tells herself.

Her vision is now a dark grey, everything is now in a Black and White filter.

As her vision swims with shades of black, white and gray, there's only one thing that stands out.

The red button.

Tris slams her fist into Peter's face and rolls out of the way.

He grabs for her leg, but she pulls it away from his grasp and kicks his stomach.

He screams like a dying animal, but Tris can literally no longer hear, her senses were shutting down, but she needed to get to the button.

And she does, Tris slumps to her knees, but she forces the last of her energy into her left arm, just to slam that button.

In the last second possible, at the same time her hand presses into the cool surface of the red beauty, there's an extra force as the button presses itself down, and makes a loud siren.

Tris doesn't care anymore, she lies her head into the cool grass and wonders why there's so much red on herself, and everywhere around her.

As her eye lids droop closed, she hears faint voices of yelling and crying, and many pairs of arms wrap around her small frame, but someone pushes them away and a strong pair of arms gather her into his arms, and she is lifted from the ground.

But the chaotic noises are bothering her, and the only way to get away from it is to fall under the sleepless darkness.

And so she lets herself do just that.

* * *

 _ **A/N- Ummm, wow. Phew. That was instense. Speechless.**_

 _ **Welcome to the games?**_

 _ **Review, Fave, Follow, whatever you want.**_

 _ **And BTW, if there was ANY sort of typo or grammatical mistake or anything, I'm so sorry, but I just wanted to get the chapter uploaded, and it's like, 12:10 am. So I kinda skim edited it, if that's a thing, so idk, sorry!**_


	5. Chapter 5

"Oh, my God! Guys, she's finally _moving_ , I think she's waking _up_!" Someone calls out as Tris starts to get up from her blackout.

Tris felt so tired and weak, it was disgusting to her- to be so vulnerable.

Her body was absolutely aching.

She was afraid to move her body, but she needed to, in order to figure out where she was.

Tris moves a hand to shield the front of her face and slowly forces her heavy eyelids to open.

When her vision comes into focus, she sees a crowd of people around her.

Some with hands over their mouths, some smiling, some breathing out a sigh of relief.

She closes her eyes again.

Then she opens them.

They were still there.

 _Too many people I don't know, too many people I_ -

"Tris! Are you awake? Please show you won't fall asleep again." A familiar voice pleads.

Tris tries to look over at him but can't turn her head without shifting her whole body, so she shakes her head.

"Uriah, I'm awake, I just feel like my eyelids are heavy, calm down." She croaks quietly.

There's a dip in the bed as someone suddenly comes really close to her, and a second later a cheek is laying on her own and her body is filled with a friendly warmth.

"Uriah, I'm fine, sheesh, I'm fine. You can let me go now." She whispers as he hugs her gently, trying not to hurt her.

Finally, he lets go and smiles at her, "I'm sorry, I'm just happy you're alive."

Tris sends him a quick smile, then tries to scoot up so she can lean against the headboard of the bed, but one shift and she gasps loudly in pain.

"Agh, shit, shit, shit." She winces.

Marlene moves forward to help her but Tris just shakes her head, "No, no, it's okay, whatever."

There was a lump in her throat, and Tris tries to swallow it back.

Now she was getting frustrated, she couldn't move, she couldn't speak properly because of her voice, she felt like crying but she obviously couldn't-

\- All because of the games.

 _Come to think of it, what happened?_ Tris wonders.

"I'm gonna ask you guys a really important question, and you all have to answer honestly." Tris tells them, because she can't hold it in.

Everyone nods immediately. _Damn, if I asked them to jump over a bridge to help me, they probably would._ Tris thinks guiltily.

But then it occurs to her, they're _scared_ for her.

"Did I press the button?" She asks quietly.

There's a moment of painful silence.

They are shocked that she would still even care about it.

A female voice pipes up, "Um. Yeah. Yeah, you pushed the button."

She has short chocolate brown hair, and everyone nods in agreement to her answer.

"But?" Tris asks, scared to know.

"What do you mean, but?"

"I know how to read faces, can you just tell me?" Tris utters throatily with a deathly narrow of her eyes.

"But... It was a tie."

It takes a few seconds for Tris to process that information.

She couldn't believe it, after all she'd done, it didn't even pay off.

But then, it's like she has a sudden flashback and she's back in the game in third person.

* * *

 _-Tris slumps to her knees, but she forces the last of her energy into her left arm, just to slam that button._

 _In the last second possible, at the same time her hand presses into the cool surface of the red beauty, there's an extra force as the button presses itself down, and makes a loud siren._

* * *

 _Oh my God, an_ extra force _when I slammed the button. It wasn't just a thought, it was Peter's hand pressing the button from the top of my hand._ Tris figures out in complete shock.

"But.. How did he press the button when a few seconds ago, I'd kicked his bullet wound?" She thinks aloud.

"It doesn't matter, what matters now is that you're alive, it was a tie, and that this was only the beginning." A mature female voice answers.

 _Who said that?_ Tris wonders.

She tries to study the room she's in, but only one thing sticks out to her. A lady with fairly long black hair is in the background.

"Who are you?" Tris asks tiredly while rubbing at her eyes.

"I'm Tori."

"Yeah, she's like, our provider or something. She'll patch us up, give us food, basically anything." Uriah answers.

Tris gives a quick, small smile at Uriah for explaining, then looks back at Tori who is speaking.

"I suppose in a way, I'm your 'provider'. However, I'm only in Group B. Not A." Tori explains.

Tris nods, covers her face with the back of her hand again, and closes her eyes.

"Maybe we should all-"

"No, no, stay." Tris interjects.

Zeke shakes his head. "Look, Tris, you've been through everything worse than shit, maybe you should rest a bit to heal?"

Tris sighs. "Fine, But at least before you leave, can you all introduce yourselves? I only know some of you, but I should probably know my whole team."

Yes, she was tired, and yes, she wanted everyone to leave, but she was trying to be friendly.

However, her tiredness got the best of her. By the time everyone left, she knew Uriah, Marlene, Zeke, Shauna, Lynn, Christina, Will, and Al. Except she forgot what their hobbies were or anything else.

Tris closes her eyes again and grits her teeth as she tries to again, shift her position.

 _Stifle your cry, hold in the pain, hold in the pain, don't you dare make a tear fall._ Tris tells herself.

"You know," Tori tells her quietly from the back of the room where she's organizing something. "It's okay to be vulnerable."

Tris looks over at her. "What do you mean?"

Tori sighs and brings over some type of needle. "You're a horrible liar. I know you're in pain, so there's no reason to suppress it."

Tris rolls her eyes. "I'm not suppressing anything. Whatever. It hurts- but whatever. What are you doing?"

Tori shrugs. "I'm going to give you an _amazing_ pain reliever, and _healer_. But this is only for physical pain."

"Physical pain?"

"Yes, physical. Not emotional, spiritual, environmental, mental-"

"I don't see where you're going with this." Tris interrupts.

Tori shrugs. "Well, just saying that I know you're hurt emotionally and mentally inside."

Tris tries to sit up but falls back down with a curse. She waits a second for her hip to stop throbbing, then looks back over at Tori.

"What the _hell_ do you mean by that?" She asks coldly.

"It's not hard to figure it out. Just now, you suppressed your pain from me, even though we're alone. So if you can suppress that, you can suppress your feelings as well. Which means you are closed off and a lot of bad things have probably happened to you in your life."

Tris bites the inside of her cheek. "That doesn't mean anything."

"Yes, it does." Tori tells her while cleaning the needle. "It means you're carrying a weight on your shoulders that you shouldn't be, you don't deserve it, don't think it's ever supposed to be that way because it's not."

Tris eyes the needle that Tori brings closer to her. "Where are you gonna-"

Tris gasps as Tori injects the serum into her neck.

There's a quick pain, but then a few seconds later, Tris is relaxing as a nice coolness spreads throughout her body.

"Wouldn't it feel nice to be crying right now? Just let it all out?" Tori interrupts her calm moment.

Tris opens her eyes that were forced closed and looks up at Tori. " _What_?"

"So what happened? Were you abandoned, you lost someone, you don't make friends really well, you're insecure or-"

"I'm not insecure. It's... It's nothing." Tris interjects.

But now that she was hearing Tori list it all out, she realized that half of what she was saying was true.

Tori shrugs and walks to the back of the room to throw away the empty needle. "You know, when was the last time you just let it all out? When you were a little kid and you cried about how you were hurt to mom and dad or something? When did you decide to hide-"

"I find it more tough being vulnerable, than being _just_ tough." Tris tells Tori while swallowing back the sudden lump in her throat. "And I don't have a mom. Or a dad. And I haven't seen my brother for a year or so."

Tori frowns a bit, then goes back to organizing her medical supplies. "So it's been a while since you shed tears or showed any vulnerability, why?"

Tris doesn't answer. She couldn't. It was becoming harder for her to breathe.

"Know that when you keep your feelings to yourself, it won't be long till you burst. What do you think your mother would think of you if she were to come back and find out that her own daughter couldn't even grieve? Don't you think she'd blame it all on herself because ever since _she_ passed away, you-"

Over the span of time Tori was talking, Tris had felt her eyes become damp, her throat become incredibly thick, and the lump that she had tried so hard to swallow back would not go down.

But now, reminded of her parents death in such detail, she has one hand slapped over her mouth while the other was held out in a 'stop' gesture.

As Tris shakily breathes, and tries to calm herself, Tori walks over and places a key into her hand.

It's when Tori brings Tris in a motherly embrace and tells her that 'everything will be alright', that Tris can take it no more.

She rips away from Tori and points toward the door. "Please. Just stop, and _please_ go."

Tori falters, but pulls away from Tris and walks out.

The moment the door closes, Tris bends over and bursts into countless sobs of grief.

She mourns about her mother and father, she mourns about Caleb not being with her, and then, she just cries about how she's a target to life, and it's like her life will always get worse no matter what she does.

However, Tori was actually right about one thing.

It was like a burden lifted from your shoulders.

Tris now felt light. She felt as light as a feather, and she realized, this is how everyone should always feel. But she was trapped in so many feelings, that she was as heavy as a cotton ball drenched in water.

And it's this thought that brings Tris to a slow whimper.

Tris wipes her eyes and looks at the key Tori gave her, connected to it is a note.

 ** _This is your room key._**

 ** _And Tris, What you're doing now is not wrong, it is right._**

 ** _What makes you vulnerable, makes you beautiful. Know that people always cry. And with you, it's because you've been strong for too long. Owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing we, and you, will ever do._**

 ** _Never be afraid to fall apart because it is an opportunity to rebuild yourself the way you wish you had been all along. So put your armor down._**

 ** _-Tori_**

Tris slowly reads the note and takes a deep breath, then holds the key close to her heart. "Thank you." She whispers.

* * *

Tris wanders through the halls until she sees a door marked, **#4 and #6**.

She slowly slips the key into the doorknob and turns it until the door opens.

 _Yep, right one._ She thinks.

As she enters the room, she locks the door again and walks over to the fridge.

As she opens it, she is surprised to see that it's filled with food and drinks.

Tris grabs a chilled water bottle and walks over to her bed.

Whatever Tori gave is making her feel so much better.

As Tris flops onto her bed, she attempts to open the water bottle but it won't budge.

She tries again. And again. Her hands are now red and stinging.

 _What the hell, this is so embarrassing._ Tris thinks.

She studies the bottle and notices that it had been in the fridge for quite a while, so the cap froze a bit.

But she needed the water because she didn't have any in her, she was dehydrated. However, she didn't want to drink the bathroom water.

Frustrated, Tris looks around the room-

-And that's when she realizes the figure next to her.

She forgot about Four, and he was sleeping in the bed next to hers.

Tris gets up and walks to the other side of the room until she's facing him.

His hair is tousled, and he looks so tired and stressed.

Maybe that's why he wasn't with everyone else earlier?

Tris can't decide whether to wake him up and disturb him, or let herself dehydrate to the point where she'll faint.

Uh. Yeah.

"Four. Four, can you wake up?" She whispers as she shakes his shoulder.

Four stirs a bit, then goes back into his sleeping position.

"Four." She says again while shaking him a bit harder.

Again, he stirs, then evenly breathes again.

Her gaze falls to the trash can next to his bed, and in it, is an empty needle.

 _Did they give him a sleeping thing or what?_ She wonders.

Tris walks over and into the bathroom, then walks out with cold water in her cupped hands. As soon as she's in front of Four, she whispers a _sorry_ and throws it at his face.

Four shoots out of bed with a cough. "What the fu-" He stops as he spots Tris slowly inching away from him.

When she's sure Four won't eat her head, she hands him the water bottle she tried so hard to open.

He doesn't take the bottle, he's just watching her with disbelief.

"What?"

"Y-You're walking?" He answers.

Tris sighs and shrugs. "Yeah, I'm fine. Wonderful. Honestly, couldn't be better. What's up with you, sleepyhead? I didn't see you when I woke up earlier, but everyone else was there."

Four doesn't answer.

"Why did you throw water at my face?"

Tris rolls her eyes. "Um. You wouldn't get up."

"Well, I'm up, Princess, what do you need?" He asks with a sleepy smirk.

Tris smiles, then shifts her weight from one foot to the other as she remembers the reason.

She feels herself blush and she places the back of her hands on her cheeks to make it go away. "Uhhhhh."

Four grabs the sheets. "Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"That thing you're doing. It looks too cute, you make me wanna grab you." He answers.

"And who said that's a bad thing?" Tris asks in a soft, low voice.

Four looks at her with wide eyes. "Are you serious now or-

Tris slowly sticks her tongue at him. "Haha. Got you! I'm kidding. Back to the point, here." she says while tossing the water bottle at him.

"What?"

Tris rubs the back of her neck. "Uh. This is kinda embarrassing but... I can't open it."

Four stares at her for a second, then hides his smile behind the back of his hand. "Um. What? I don't think I heard you properly."

"Shut up! You heard me loud and clear, now open it." She answers.

Four stifles his laugh and coughs to pretend he's not, then with ease, opens the bottle.

Tris quickly walks over and grabs it, then hops on his bed and drinks the bottle using two hands because her right arm is sort of weak.

The water is cool as it slips down her throat and she feels it go all the way to her belly.

When she's drank about 3/4 of the bottle, she closes it with the cap and looks over to see Four staring at her.

"What now? Don't tell me that was cute, there's nothing cute about drinking a bottle you idiot."

Four chuckles, then shakes his head. "No, not that. But now that you mentioned it-"

"What were you thinking about?" Tris asks.

"Well. You. And how I'm just grateful you're alive." He answers with a slow hum.

Tris pauses for a second, then wraps her arms around him. "I know everyone is shaken up about what happened, at the time, so was I, but know that now I'm fine and everyone else should be as well because it's not long until someone else will be picked, okay?" Tris says quietly.

Then she pulls away and hops off the bed with her bottle.

Four sits still for a few seconds, then looks over at her again. "Wow."

"Yeah," Tris answers while grabbing a change of clothes from the drawer and walking over to the bathroom, "It'll be a while before you experience that again."

Four chuckles and watches as she enters the bathroom. Seconds later, she comes running out and over to the screen.

"I forgot to check. Shit, back to reality." She whispers.

 ** _Time Until Next Mini-Game: 49:07:14_**

Four frowns, then reaches on the stand beside him and tosses Tris a bar of soap. "Just don't worry about it, Princess, there's a while before we need to go."

Tris looks over at him, then takes a deep breath and looks at the soap in her hands. "Yeah. Right."

Tris moves to enter the bathroom, then stops and turns around, "Oh, and Four?"

"Yep?"

She smiles and shrugs. "I mean, I think it's pretty cute that you're letting me use your soap. You know, the one that _you_ used. On yourself. That's pretty nice."

His face is of pure self-control as he puts his head in his hands.

 _Ah, I'm such a tease._ Tris laughs to herself as she enters the bathroom.

* * *

 ** _A/N- So there you go!_**

 ** _Thnx for all ur reviews! All of them are really nice and AMAZING! Like, seriously, I'm not kidding._**

 ** _SO drop a review, follow, fave, anything you want!_**

 ** _And I'm sorry I didn't update for a bit, It took a while to get the chapter right and it was getting real busy in my house._**

 ** _And if you read Mission Complicated, I'm on a slight writers block but I'll try to think of something and get the next chapter out!_**

 ** _Anyway, YEAH! July 4 is coming real soon! And yeah... I don't know what else to say so.._**

 ** _Bye!_**


	6. Chapter 6

When Tris awakens from her sleep, it's dim in the room.

As she sits up from the bed, she rakes a hand through her dry hair and tiredly wipes at her eyes.

After yawning, she looks over at Four to see that he's asleep.

Tris swings her legs to the side of the bed and slowly grabs Four's phone.

It's 7:43 a.m.

Tris enters 4646 as the password and raises her eyebrows as she realizes it unlocks.

 _So the passwords on our phones have to do with our roommates._ She figures out.

Tris explores through his phone, there's a few mind games like Ruzzle, and default apps.

She taps on the contacts and is surprised that there are 10.

Tris (herself), Marlene, Shauna, Lynn, Christina, Will, Al, Zeke, Uriah, and Tori.

As Four shifts in his sleep, Tris quickly exits the contacts and closes the phone, then she puts it back.

Tris glances over at Four, she notices how young and innocent he looks.

After commanding the thoughts away she walks over to the fridge. Might as well make some food, it was morning.

Tris pulls out some eggs, onions, tomatoes, green peppers and mozzarella cheese.

She begins to make some scrambled eggs, with the occasional salt or spice, then puts the stove on low heat and grabs a knife. Skillfully, Tris dices the vegetables and gracefully mixes them in with the scrambled eggs.

After giving a a few stirs, she quickly cleans her area and makes her way back over to the cabinet near the fridge.

Eventually, with her searching for a few moments, she pulls out a pack of 12 nice and light tortillas.

Tris turns off the stove and sprinkles loads of mozzarella cheese on each tortilla. Then, she evenly spreads the egg mixture on them all. After putting the pan back on the stove, she neatly folds all the tortillas and wraps them in some foil paper she found in the cabinet.

That's when Tris realizes something.

 _If there's so many foods and supplies, it means that we'll be here for a long time._

Tris leans forward against the counter as a small lump appears in her throat and tears brim at her eyes.

She uses the back of her hand to wipe them away, and blows out a huge gush of air from her puffed up cheeks.

 _Stay positive stay positive._ She tells herself.

Tris takes a few deep breaths, then walks over to the bathroom. She splashes water at her face and looks up at her reflection.

She looked like shit.

Tris searches around the bathroom and finds some eyeliner. She lightly applies it and looks back in the mirror again.

At least she didn't look depressed anymore.

Tris rolls her eyes and walks back over to the tortillas. She unwraps one and begins to eat it quickly.

As Tris eats, she almost laughs at how good it tastes.

Too bad a celebration wasn't appropriate where she was.

A few minutes, Tris finishes her 'burrito' and drinks some juice from the fridge.

After, she uses her hands to rake through her hair and straighten it, then glances over at Four again.

 _I really don't want to wake him up. I'll just give everyone breakfast, then come back._ Tris decides.

She quickly grabs her own phone and just switches the numbers for her own password, 6464, and scrolls through her contacts.

She pauses at Uriah's number.

 ** _Hey, It's Tris, what is your room number?_** She texts, surprised that it actually sends.

Meanwhile as she waits for him to reply, she slips on her gladiator sandals and grabs the plate full of burritos.

Finally, Uriah replies with his room number and Tris finds a large, random newspaper to write a note for Four.

 _Damn, I don't know where the pens are._ Tris groans to herself.

Tris sets the plate down and goes through the fridge.

 **I'M LEAVING THE ROOM FOR A BIT. I'LL BE BACK LATER. ~T**

Tris tries not to burst out laughing as she finishes signing her first initial with the bottle of ketchup in her hand.

She also places a burrito and adds, **BTW, I MADE BREAKFAST!**

"Hopefully the smell of ketchup doesn't bother you." Tris whispers to Four before slipping out of the room.

* * *

Tris knocks on Uriah's door while glancing around her.

 _Nope. No one here._ She thinks with paranoia.

The door opens slowly to reveal Uriah's creeped-out face, but very shortly, it turns into a shocked expression.

"Tris! You're walking?!" Uriah exclaims loudly.

Tris nods. "I know. Tori gave me a serum and it healed me."

Uriah grabs her arm while pulling her in.

"MARLENE LOOK AT TRIS SHE'S HEALED!" Uriah yells excitedly.

Marlene jumps out of her bed and tackles Tris to the ground.

"Tris! That's so awesome!" She screams.

Tris slowly pushes herself up and Marlene rolls off of her.

"Oh my God, Marlene. Whoa! You made me knock down all the burritos!" Tris chuckles.

Uriah immediately grabs one and begins to eat. "So that's why you're here?"

Tris slowly begins placing the burritos back onto the plate. "Um. Yeah. I'm just giving everyone a burrito, I'm gonna do this to everyone though, so yeah... I'll be leaving now."

Uriah pouts as Tris gets up and tosses Marlene a burrito as well. "So, you're going now?"

Tris heads toward the door. "Yes, now."

They both quickly run over to her and give her a hug.

Marlene suddenly moves Tris's shirt to the side to reveal her shoulder.

"Oh Jeez, it's like your skin is indented now." She whispers as she studies her healing bullet wound.

Tris slowly pulls her shirt back up, and Marlene returns her hand to her side.

"Tris, honestly, I'm scared of what'll happen next. I mean, you were almost killed in the first mini game! So, if it was that hard on the first game, imagine the next. The thing is, how did you manage to do it?" Marlene asks quietly.

Tris glances at both Uriah and Marlene. "You know, I was hella scared when I was going through the obstacle course. Like, I had no idea when Peter would shoot, or if I'd fall. But the thing is, when you're actually _in_ the game, you don't panic. It's more like a survival mode turns on, and then you're not thinking about everyone, just the red button."

"Tris, that's not what she meant. What she means is, how did _you_ doit? Strategically know what to do and how, scale the rock climbing wall and put on the harness hella fast, shoot the gun perfectly, dodge Peter's blows successfully, use hand combat skillfully to win." Uriah explains.

This stops Tris from speaking.

Marlene rakes a nervous hand through her hair. "You had experience didn't you? You knew how to do the whole freaking course like it was your home."

Tris shakes her head, "No. It's not like-"

"-So how the _hell_ will _we_ do with our mini game _without_ experience? Huh?" Marlene interrupts already nervous.

Tris rubs at her face. "Look, did you guys hear my theory at the end before I was shot?"

They both stare at her blankly.

Tris nods. "Okay, well, I told Peter that if he didn't notice, the whole obstacle course was basically built for _me_ to win. I think the whole main game is on _our_ side. Like, they'll be fair and even with each team, but they'll be rooting for Group B to win. Does that make any sense?"

Marlene sighs. "Not everyone is as clever as-"

"No, I'm not clever. We _all_ are clever. Do you remember when we first got here? They said, 'You've all been watched. You've all been chosen for your skills and cleverness.' The thing is, each game is set up to fulfill our own skills. So, some of the skills I was good at were shooting, hand- eye coordination, hand combat, and climbing." Tris answers.

"So, whoever is picked next, their mini game will focus on their skills? And so on?" Uriah continues.

Tris nods. "Yeah, like that."

Marlene nods slowly. "But I don't know what I'm good at."

Tris feels a vibration in her pocket. Her phone had a message. She doesn't pick it up.

"Marlene, I really gotta go give these before they become hella cold, but just remember, everyone is good at something, or a load of things. And you just don't realize it now, but it looks like everyone here will find out what they're good at, and very soon. But meanwhile, just please, stay positive like you always are?"

With that, Tris gives them both quick side hugs, then moves on to the next room.

* * *

 _3 more burritos to go._ Tris thinks tiredly.

She pulls her phone out of her pocket and glances at the time. 8:15 a.m.

She'd taken at least half an hour so far, and now all she had to give burritos for was Christina, Will, and Tori.

Tris knocks on the door and slowly stands back. A boy with blonde hair and light green eyes opens the door.

Tris smiles. "Hi Will."

Will nods and rubs at his eyes. A few seconds later, his eyes suddenly widen.

"Oh! Oh, Tris?!" He asks in shock.

Tris laughs a bit. "You don't want to know how many times I've gotten that reaction."

Will gestures for Tris to come inside, and when she does, she spots Christina by the mirror doing make up.

"Well, I bought some breakfast if you were hungry?" Tris asks them both.

Christina immediately turns. "Oh Goodness, I'm starving to- _Tris_!" She exclaims happily while throwing her arms around her neck and giving a hug.

Tris smiles while handing Will a burrito from her side. When Christina steps back, she does the same to her.

"And how are you feeling?" Christina asks Tris with a giddy smile.

Tris grins, her enthusiasm was certainly contagious. "Light. Relieved. I'm fine."

"You're here by yourself?" Christina asks.

Tris glances over at Will, who's eating his burrito already.

"Uh, yeah. I came alone. Just stopped by all the rooms. Have one more though, so I need to-"

"Who's the last one for?" She asks.

Tris looks at the last burrito in her hand. "Um. Tori."

"Hey, Will?" Christina calls.

He looks over at her, already almost done eating.

"Can you do me a HUGE favor and give this burrito to Tori? Please?" She asks.

Tris has to look away at the googly, flirty look she gives Will.

 _Oh gosh. Bleh. I gotta get used to this now?_ Tris groans to herself.

The door shuts and when Tris glances at the plate she was holding, it was empty.

Christina pulls Tris over to her bed and puts the plate away.

"Okay, we need to talk. I just got rid of Will, but it won't be too long. Now, where's your boyfriend first of all?" Christina asks.

"My- My who?" Tris stutters. "You mean, Four?"

Christina rolls her eyes. "Modesty, modesty. Sheesh. So why'd ya leave him? Won't he get worried?"

Tris groans. "He's not my boyfriend, what the hell?"

Christina looks genuinely confused. "He's not? Are you sure?"

"Yes. I'm positive."

"Then why'd... Wait, do you know about what he did?"

Tris pauses. "Oh shoot, is he a serial killer? I share a room with a freaking _murderer_ and no one-"

"-He's not a serial killer or any sort!" Christina interrupts. "It's just... It seemed like he was your boyfriend."

"How so?"

"Well." Christina sighs. "He was so caring and- whatever. You know the Observation Room?"

Tris nods, waiting for her to continue.

"Well, let's just say that the moment the first shot was fired, he left the room?"

"He _left_ the room? Are you even allowed to do that?"

Christina groans. "That's not the point, Tris! He couldn't bear to see you hurt, and he couldn't take it, so he left!"

"Leaving doesn't even mean anything. I would've left if I saw so much blood. To be quite honest, I'd throw up."

Christina rolls her eyes. "Well, there's more. You know when you were about to push the button? That's when everything got real violent, but Four finally walked back in. After you pushed the button with Peter and there was a tie, the screen read, 'Whoops. That wasn't supposed to happen. To be fair, you can get your teammate.' We all ran as fast as we could, and the boys ran to grab you, but Four literally went insane and possessive over you-"

"Wait, I only remember screams, cries, and a bunch of people grabbing for me. But then one person pushed them all away and carried me. That's when I blacked out. So Four carried me?" Tris insists suspiciously.

Christina nods. "Honestly. And he carried you like a precious gem while whispering to you God knows what, and then Tori came and he didn't trust her after what happened-"

"- But I needed to be healed. Except since she wasn't letting him stay in the room because he was so 'possessive' she injected him with something? I saw it in the trash can."

Christina nods again. "Yep. It knocked him out. We were all _freaked_ , but Tori just closed the door, and after 15 minutes of putting an unconscious Four into your room and the. waiting, we were allowed in, where we saw you all cleaned up and asleep."

Tris nods, quiet.

"So, enough of that gloomy stuff. What I was trying to say was, he totally has feelings for you."

Tris's frown immediately disappears. "Oh Jeez, Christina!"

Thankfully, the door knob is unlocked and Will walks in.

Christina rolls her eyes as Tris jumps to her feet and gives a hug to Will. "Thank you so much! You're a life saver!"

Will looks from Tris to the Christina suspiciously, then sighs. "Um. Your welcome."

Tris walks near the door, but pauses when Christina calls her name.

"Yeah?"

"Get to your room fast, I know he's freaking out."

Tris sighs. "Okay, sheez."

* * *

Tris slowly turns the key in the door knob and quietly walks into the room.

"Hey..." Tris greets while shutting the door.

"Where'd you go?" He asks, his voice low.

"Um. Just out, why?"

"Why didn't you reply to my texts? I thought they took you or something."

"What?" Tris asks while pulling out her phone. "Seriously?" There were 10 unread messages.

"Dang. Whoops. Well, anyway, did you eat something?" Tris asks while walking over to her bed and flopping on to it tiredly.

Four rolls his eyes. "Yeah. A burrito that _someone_ left. You know, you could've woken me up."

Tris shrugs. "I didn't want to. You needed to sleep."

He scoffs. "I got a load of sleep. _You_ however, apparently did not."

She sighs. "Fine. I'll sleep right now if that's what you want."

Four groans and Tris watches him rub at his face.

"Why are you acting all stressed out?" She asks, slightly annoyed.

"No reason. I mean, we're in a death trap of a game, and now my room mate disappeared, shortly encountering a near-death experience just a while ago. But you know, I'm feeling dapper now."

Tris studies Four's tousled hair and ruffled t-shirt. "Really? You're looking anything but dapper."

"There's something called sarcasm."

"Yeah, I know, and I'm a master of it." Tris replies.

"Can you just answer seriously?" Four exclaims with a frustrated throw of his hands.

Tris rolls her eyes and sits up. "Will you quit acting like we're some sort of married couple and I just left you? And I was gone for _not even_ a freaking hour! Shut up and just _chill_!" Tris complains loudly.

Four suddenly quietens and drops his face into his hands. "Oh _God_." He moans.

Tris tenses a bit, then after watching him for a few minutes, not moving, she starts to feel guilty.

"Ok, I'm sorry. I was being selfish, I didn't realize that my leaving would hurt you. If you left me, I'd freak out and be hella pissed off with you as well. But I just made breakfast for everyone because they were real nice and caring back when I woke up from my black out."

Four still doesn't move his position.

 _Oh, why the hell do I always have to be so cold?_ Tris thinks hopelessly.

Not knowing what to do, she walks toward Four and sits in front of him.

"Hey? I'm sorry?" Tris insists soothingly as she tries to peek through his hands.

No answer. Tris blows out a gush of air from her puffed cheeks.

She slowly reaches for his hands and mildly pulls them away. "Four, I'm sorry. okay?"

His fingers slowly tighten around hers. "I know... It's fine. Just... Don't do that again?"

Tris bites back a remark and glances down at their hands.

After sitting in silence, gently, Tris uses her thumbs to draw soothing circles onto his. She can now feel his eyes on her, but she doesn't look up.

They were so close, his breathing was tickling the top of her forehead, but she knew she wouldn't be able to control herself if she glanced up. So she doesn't.

But after a few minutes, Tris finally does look up, and her nose lightly brushes against his.

Tris tries to force herself to pull away, but she feels so addicted, so pulled in. She can feel the pleasurable heat radiating off of his body.

Four slowly leans in, and she lets her eyes fall closed, her head tilt up-

-But then there's a loud knock on the door.

Tris immediately jumps away from Four and rubs a hand across her face. "Sorry." She gasps, her breath light and quick.

Tris ignores Four and runs over to the door, she unlocks it quickly and smiles at Tori who's standing there.

"Um. hi, sorry for disturbing you. You look a bit tired."

Tris shakes her head. "No, it's fine."

"Well, I was just stopping by to say thank you for the breakfast. And, I wanted to give you this." Tori answers while holding out a small, white box.

Tris grabs it and laughs as she opens it. "Chocolate cake?"

Tori shakes her head, "Nooo. This. Is. Amazing. You need to eat it. If you don't try it, then you have not lived."

Tris laughs again while brushing a strand of hair off her face. "Well, thanks so much!"

Tori smiles and gives a wink. "Just happy you're feeling better."

Tori looks into the room and over at Four. "Good Morning."

"Morning." Four answers, a bit gruffly.

"Well, I'll be going now, and remember to try the cake!" Tori calls while walking away.

Tris grins. "Of course!" And then she closes the door.

Tris sets the box of cake onto the counter, then walks straight into the bathroom.

"Hope I didn't ruin ketchup for you." She tells him quietly, before closing the door.

She didn't want to think about what had just occurred with her and Four.

 _But it felt so good, so right._ Tris quickly shakes her head. But she didn't even properly _know_ him either. She didn't even know his favorite candy or color.

Everything was happening too fast, She had to step back and slow her pace. She was kidnapped in an insane game, and a relationship was the last thing on her mind.

She had to stop thinking about him!

So instead, she turns on the water for the shower.

* * *

 _ **A/N- Holy shit. This was the most hardest chapter ever! My freaking GOODNESSSS.**_

 _ **I literally had this chapter done. But then it seemed too happy so I had to erase the whole thing and RE-WRITE it.**_

 _ **But then again, I went a happy direction, and I kept forgetting that TRIS ALMOST DIED. So yeah.**_

 _ **I basically deleted and re-wrote this chapter 4 times.**_

 _ **Again, I CANNOT THINK OF ANYTHING FOR MY OTHER STORY I'M HAVING A HORRIBLE WRITER'S BLOCK! I have no clue when I'll get a chapter for Mission Complicated out!**_

 _ **Either way, yeah. So.. Um..**_

 _ **Oh yeah! Leave a review, fave, follow, whatever you want.. Tell me how you're feeling so far..**_

 _ **And if there was any sort of error or grammatical mistake, I'M SO SORRY! I just didn't want to prolong the chapter any longer. (And there were no red squiggly lines)**_

 _ **And I'll see ya all later on the next chapter, BYEEE!**_

 _ **(LMAOO, watch me post this, then remember I was supposed to announce something.)**_


	7. Chapter 7

Tris had been sitting in the bathroom for at least an hour.

Her hair had dried, her bottom hurt from sitting on the floor for too long, but she couldn't figure out what to do. She was so confused.

She clenches her jaw and slowly gets up, her muscles protesting.

 _Just walk out, grab your phone, and sit on your bed._ She tells herself.

Tris takes a deep breath, then walks out the door while grabbing her phone from the kitchen counter next to the chocolate cake she'd received by Tori a bit earlier.

As she's hopping onto her bed, she notices that Four isn't staring at her at all. In fact, he didn't even realize she had walked out of the bathroom.

Four is sitting on his bed leaning against the headboard, with earphones plugged in and his head nodding slowly to music or God knows what.

His eyes are closed, which make his eyelashes seem darker and longer than they usually are.

Sometimes, his eyes looked too pretty to be for a boy, but it was all balanced out with his usual personality.

Tris shakes her head. _God, just stop. Please do something other than checking him out._

Tris sighs and unlocks her phone. There were a few messages sent about several minutes ago, from Uriah, Marlene... And Lynn.

URIAH- **Come to our room! We have something planned out!**

MARLENE- **TRIS! Are you bored or not doing anything? Cuz we thought of a real good idea, come on!**

LYNN- **I'd appreciate it if you came already, Uriah and Marlene won't start until you come. SO COME.**

Tris sort of winces at Lynn's text. She can literally feel her cold voice demanding her to come. This must be important if Lynn is interested.

Tris slips on her gladiator sandals and heads for the door, then pauses.

She had to tell Four where she was going.

But she really didn't want to.

She slowly walks toward Four while stuffing her room key into her back pocket. When she's reached his bed, she conflicts last-minute whether she should honestly tell him or not.

She sighs. If she didn't tell him, their situation would be worse. It's not like he was already upset with her.

But she was upset with him as well?

Tris pulls his right earphone out, and when Four realizes there's no sound from that direction, he opens one eye to find Tris all dressed up and staring at him intently.

"Yeah?" He mumbles.

Tris glances at the door, then back at him, suddenly trying to keep her cool.

"I'm seeking for permission to walk out of the damn door. Am I allowed to or will you reject my request because it's hella dangerous for me to leave?" She asks, purposely emphasizing the point that she wasn't quite fond with the idea of always having to tell him where she was going.

It's when Four realizes her frustration that he pulls his other earphone out and sighs. "You know, I didn't mean it like that, I'm not restricting you or acting like a total possessive ass. I'm just saying, I'd rather have you in person tell me that you're leaving the room rather than a bottle of ketchup."

Tris bites the inside of her cheek. She did not want to smile. She wanted him to feel her frustration, but he was deflecting it easily.

Tris rolls her eyes. "Well, okay, I'm leaving the room. I don't know how long, but maybe for a bit. Don't make a big deal if I take long, I'll be with 3 other people. And if I run into trouble, believe me when I say I know how to handle it."

Four gets up after glancing at his phone. "That's fine, I'm also leaving, Zeke is calling me to his room. Don't run into any trouble."

With that, he shoves his shoes on and walks out the door.

Tris snorts and walks out the door as well. _Did he not listen to a word I said about trouble or what?_

* * *

"So what's up?" Tris asks as Uriah opens his door and grins at her.

"Well, we were going through the fridge and found a muffin. So I remembered that Zeke had a plastic-pellet gun with him before we were all kidnapped-"

"-I told Uriah that I bet he couldn't shoot the muffin off my head from at least 100 feet away. And he said he could. But the thing is, I'm not allowed to flinch." Marlene interrupts.

"Basically, We now have to get the gun, and go in the cafeteria to shoot the muffin off of Marlene's head. But Uriah wanted to do it with you. And now that you're here, let's get a move on." Lynn concludes.

Tris stops Lynn from walking out of the door and shuts it closed. "Wait, the thing is, Zeke and Shauna are awake-"

"-So? Uriah can handle it."

"-But with Four." Tris finishes.

Uriah's eyes widen. "Are you kidding me? Shit! Zeke and Four _together_ with me getting the pellet gun? Oh God!"

Tris rakes a hand through her hair. "We need a distraction though. Long enough that Uriah can slip in, and slip out."

Everyone looks at Tris.

Realization hits her. "No freaking way! That's so unfair!"

"But you're the only one that's basically been in all of our rooms. Just make some food again or whatever that's worthy of getting them out."

Tris sighs, feeling outnumbered and defeated. "Well... I have one idea. But I'm not sure if it'll work-"

"Of course it will. You've been the most successful one here, Tris. Just... Everyone from the other team hates you... but that's fine! Just do what ya gotta do." Lynn tries to reassure.

Tris rolls her eyes. "Okay, alright, whatever, but we have to stop by my room again."

 **-.-.-.-.-.-**

Tris takes a deep breath as Marlene knocks on the door, the taste of an absolute delectable still lingering in her mouth.

A few seconds later, Zeke opens the door, laughing a bit from something that was probably said earlier.

"Oh, hey Tris... And I think Marlene and Lynn?" He guesses.

We all nod.

Tris chuckles a bit. "Okay, um, you have _got_ to taste this. It's freaking incredible!"

Marlene nods. "It's so good, I swear! You have gotta try this! Everyone does! Is anyone else in the room with you?"

Zeke nods while trying to look at the white box Tris is carrying. "Um. Yeah. Four and Shauna?"

Lynn shakes her head. "Tell them to come out here. We wanna see your reactions."

Zeke narrows his eyes, and Tris slowly opens the box, knowing he isn't convinced.

"Close your eyes and smell." She whispers while holding the box near Zeke's nose.

Zeke takes a sniff and his eyes shoot open. "Holy mother of-"

Tris slams the box shut. "Nope. Ya can't see it."

Zeke groans. "Guys come out here."

Both Four and Shauna slowly walk out of the room. The moment they do, Uriah slips in.

"Yeah?" Shauna asks.

Four meets Tris's gaze. "What's going on?" He asks, his eyes narrowing.

Tris rolls her eyes. "Um. You guys are about to experience heaven. Now close your eyes."

They all cautiously do. Marlene, Lynn, and Tris all get a spoonful of the chocolate cake that Tori had bought earlier.

"Open your mouths." Lynn commands.

They awkwardly do, and Tris puts the spoon full of chocolate cake into Four's mouth. As do Marlene and Lynn with Zeke and Shauna.

"Now chew." Marlene says, a bit loudly, because Uriah trips over something on the floor.

But no one notices, because they all are literally doubling over from the heavenly taste.

Finally, just before they open their eyes, Uriah slips out of the room and stuffs the pellet gun into the back of his shirt.

 _Oh my God, is it seriously possible for something to be in slow-motion?_ Tris thinks, suddenly relieved that Uriah got out.

"What the hell?! That is amazing! Where'd you get that, Tris?!" Zeke asks.

Tris chuckles. "Um. Tori gave it to me. Kinda like a present because I gave her breakfast."

Shauna groans. "Damn. Can I have more?"

Tris laughs. "Um, yeah. That's _exactly_ why we stopped by, we wanted you guys to have it."

Zeke and Shauna both grab the box out of her hands and run back in the room.

Four crosses his arms. "You weren't primarily here to give that cake. What's up?"

"Nothing. Why? I was just giving the cake it was a bit too sweet and overwhelming for us so we decided to come here and give it to you guys because there were 3 of you here... And yeah." Tris answers while crossing her fingers behind her back.

Four sighs. "Tris, you're a horrible liar."

Tris tenses as he raises his eyebrows. "Um, What the heck? No."

Her face is full of try-hard innocence and cuteness as she tries to convince him that her only purpose of coming was for the cake.

His hard expression suddenly softens at her effort, and slowly smiles while chuckling lightly. "You were basically ranting and you look nervous."

She opens her mouth to answer but he turns around and begins walking toward the room.

Tris winces as she hears the door shut closed.

"What the hell? How'd he do that? Zeke and Shauna didn't even suspect that you were lying, but he did?" Uriah asks. "And why's he acting like that? He usually has a playful attitude."

Tris sighs. "We're not in the best of terms."

Lynn shivers. "Damn, he was giving you the cold shoulder."

Marlene shakes her head. "No, more like he just became more serious than usual. Like, a terrible mood swing. What'd you do, Tris?"

Tris groans. "Can we forget about that and do what we came here to do?"

"Oh yeah! You got the pellet gun, right?" Marlene asks.

Uriah and Marlene both start a jog toward the cafeteria with Lynn and Tris walking casually behind.

"They're both really immature." Lynn sighs.

Tris chuckles. "That's what's nice about them, they're the people that light up this damn hell."

"Couldn't have said it better myself." Lynn laughs, impressed.

 **-.-.-.-.-.-.-**

Tris and Lynn are currently sitting on Team B's black table while watching Marlene and Uriah try to measure 100 feet.

"No! That seems too close to be 100 feet! That looks like 70 feet!" Marlene argues.

Uriah groans. "Well, you're not doing so good either! Your assumption was around _150_ feet!"

Lynn laughs loudly. "You two are so amusing to watch."

Marlene rolls her eyes. "Then instead of watching us, why don't you show us where we should stand, smart-ass?"

Lynn smirks and jumps off the table, slightly shaking it. "Smart-ass indeed. Your 100 feet starts here," she starts from the wall in the back. "And until here." while heading over all the way to Team A's blue table.

Uriah smirks triumphantly. "I was closer to that, Marlene."

"Apparently not close enough." Tris interrupts, "Now will you get a move on before we're caught?"

They both quickly get into position and Marlene carefully balances the chocolate chip muffin onto her head, while leaning against the wall.

Uriah stands with his feet apart, and positions the plastic gun toward the muffin.

"Alright, Marlene. 3..2..-"

"No! Wait, wait, wait!" Marlene interrupts.

Uriah holds his position as Marlene reaches up for the muffin, and peels off a piece.

After popping it in her mouth, she smiles and balances it onto her head again. "Mffkay. Ready!" she calls with a thumbs up.

The sound of a door opening sounds, but no one hears.

After Uriah counts down, he pulls the trigger and there's a short 'pop' noise.

Tris smiles as the muffin falls off Marlene's head, with her maintaining a still posture. She didn't flinch.

Everyone jumps at the sudden new voice filling the room.

"What are you guys doing?" Shauna asks while heading toward them.

Tris looks at Shauna, then behind her to see Zeke and Four.

"Shooting a muffin off Marlene's head." Uriah answers while trying to hide the pellet gun.

Zeke's eyes widen. "You idiot! Where the hell did you get this?"

Uriah shrugs. "Your room."

"But we were there the whole freaking time!"

Four chuckles. "Do you not remember the 'cake' incident?"

Zeke looks over at Tris. "You were a part of this."

Tris shrugs and laughs a bit guiltily. "Er.. At least the cake actually tasted good?"

Zeke rolls his eyes as Lynn bursts out laughing. "We're so smart." She sighs while wiping an imaginary tear.

Uriah lets out a girly scream as Zeke runs toward him while yelling, "Get back here and gimme the gun you idiot!"

After Zeke gets Uriah into a headlock, Shauna yawns. "We should get going now."

Everyone files out of the cafeteria door.

The only ones left are now Tris, Lynn, and Four who's holding the door open.

Lynn easily walks out of the room, but Tris bites the inside of her cheek as she tries to brush past Four. Instead, he catches her wrist and gently pulls her back.

Tris pauses when she's beside him. "What?"

Four lets go of her wrist and starts walking again, with Tris falling in step. "I just needed to talk to you."

Tris frowns and shakes her head, "Can you do your 'talk' later when no one else is in a hearing distance?"

Four sighs and opens his mouth to reply when he is interrupted by a certain tough female voice.

"Um. Tris? Can you kinda walk with me till I get to my room?"

Tris glances at Four, then quickly walks ahead until she's beside Lynn. "Sure."

As Tris walks, she can feel Four following close behind. Every once in a while when they'd all turn a corner, his hand would brush against hers and she'd feel a short, pleasurable warmth spread through her arm.

Finally, they reach a door and Lynn curses. "Shit, I forgot my room key."

Tris chuckles. "I mean, you have Al as your roommate, right? He's pretty nice. I'm sure he'll open the door within a few seconds."

Sure enough, Al opens the door after Lynn uses her knuckles to literally pound on it.

Before Al can say anything, Lynn gives Tris a quick smile, then quickly slips into the room.

Al looks from Lynn to Tris again. "Oh, hey Tris!"

Tris glances at Four who's bouncing on his heels, probably waiting to talk to Tris privately already.

"Hey, Al. Just stopping by for Lynn. We'll get going n-"

Al gives her a sort of upset look, but then his face changes for a second into something else that creeps her out.

"-Oh, can you stay? And.. With him also if you want-" He tells Tris while gesturing toward Four.

Tris makes a apologetic face and shrugs. "Um. I'm _so_ sorry, but I didn't sleep that much, and I kinda wanted to rest, is that fine?"

 _Apparently, he doesn't think my lying skills are horrible, that's so fortunate right now._ Tris concludes to herself as Al tells her that he understands, then closes the door.

Tris shivers, trying to get the image of his eerie and disturbing expression out of her mind. It was only for a second, but she noticed it as easy as spotting the sun in the morning. She quickly starts walking away from the door as fast as possible, wanting to get away.

As soon as she's past the corner, she resumes her normal pace. After catching up, Four looks at her oddly, almost concerned. "Did something happen?"

Tris shakes her head a bit too quickly. "Nah, I'm fine."

Four surveys her, knowing very well that she means the opposite, but he lets it brush past.

Four sighs and rubs the back of his neck. "Okay, well, you know, I'm sorry if I'm kinda being a jerk? I'm just trying to think out everything that's confusing right now."

Tris rolls her eyes. "Yeah, well, so am I, but I'm not giving you a hard time."

Four lets out a breath and glances over at her. "I'm sorry. I'm usually not like this."

"Yeah, I know." Tris answers sourly.

She glimpses over at Four and sees him flinch slightly.

 _Well, at least he knows how I felt a bit earlier._ Tris supposes.

Four lets out a deep breath again. "Okay. I'm... Usually... Never in a situation like this... So... I don't know-"

"-It's quite easy," Tris interrupts. "I mean, to start yourself off, how about a proper apology?"

Four rubs at the back of his neck.. "Well, I'm sorry I've been quite rude with you even though you don't deserve it?"

Tris smiles. " _Well_ , first of all, apology accepted. Second," She leans close to his ear. "Quit being an absolute block-headed dick."

Four rolls his eyes with a hint of a smile as Tris returns to her position while laughing quietly, her mood a bit better.

"So... Are we fine now?" He asks anxiously.

Tris smirks as she unlocks their room with her key, "Well... Maybe. Not quite."

Tris flops onto her bed as Four shuts the door behind them and heads over to sit in front of her.

"Okay, what can I do to make it up to you, Princess?" He asks, a teeny bit desperately.

Tris folds her arms behind her head. "Um. What's your favorite color?"

She smiles as he stares at her weirdly.

 _If I want to get any closer, I need to know the basics._ Tris supposes to herself, recalling her freak-out session in the bathroom before she had stayed in there for an hour.

"Well, it was originally blue, but it's messed up now because it's Team A's color. So I guess my current favorite color is black." Four declares.

Tris shrugs. "Same. Blue is a messed up color for me as well, though I loved it before."

Four leans forward against his knees. "Anything else?"

Tris nods while trying to stifle laughter. "Yeah, what's your favorite candy?"

Four raises his eyebrows. "Are you seriously asking me-"

"-Do you want to make it up to me or not?" Tris interrupts.

"Okay. Sheez. Well, I guess I like... Sour-patch gummies?" Four answers.

Tris nods. "Okay, and what do you do as a hobby?"

Four smiles slowly. "This'll kinda sound weird to you."

"Shoot." Tris responds, not caring.

"I like to practice throwing knives and hand-combat."

Tris nods. "Well, the hand-combat isn't creepy... The knives however, now _that's_ getting me concerned."

Four chuckles while crossing his legs and resting a hand on his chin. "Nah, don't worry. I'd never hurt you, Princess."

Tris nods while stretching out her feet and blowing out a deep breath.

Instinctively, Four begins unzipping her gladiator sandals and setting them aside.

"You didn't have to do that." Tris tells him as he takes her feet and sets them onto his legs.

Four simply shakes his head, brushing her statement off. "So, any other questions?"

Tris suddenly pushes herself up, remembering something that was on her mind, but just never got to say. "Yeah. One question."

Four nods, waiting for her to continue.

"Well... Why aren't any of us trying to escape? I feel like we all just... Gave up." Tris asks him quietly.

Four looks at the screen reading, _**Time Left Until Next Mini Game: 12:05:36**_ , then looks back at Tris again.

"The thing is, none of us did, if we all gave up, we wouldn't even be alive right now."

Tris flops back onto the bed again. "I know, but why aren't we _planning_ anything? Why are we all just... Sitting... And... I don't know how to explain it."

Four glances at her feet resting on his lap. "Yeah, I know what you're saying. You had it all written on your face the first day we got here."

Tris's eyebrows furrow. "Wait. What?"

Four looks up at her again. "You don't like being oblivious to the serious situation at hand. I knew the look that you were giving, the one you gave to Uriah when he first started talking to you."

Tris is flustered. She doesn't know if she should feel thankful that he gets her, flattered that he noticed her within the first day, or just plain creeped out that he could easily read her emotions, one of them including lying.

And that just makes Tris wonder all over again, was she going too fast? She knew she needed to be slow with Four, but how slow? She was so attracted to him that it was impossible!

Four exhales. "What's going on in that clever mind of yours?"

Tris snaps back into reality, then shakes her head. "I don't know. I honestly don't know."

Four shifts his position and Tris pulls her feet back. "Four?"

"Hmm?"

"Have you ever been in a relationship?"

It was probably the most stupidest question she could ask, but she needed to set some type of limit.

Four shrugs. "Not really. I was really open with everybody, but I never got into a _serious_ relationship, I wanted it to be special."

Tris nods. _So he's never had experience dating someone, but he knows how to act around girls._

Four scratches at his arm. "Why'd ya ask?"

"No reason." She answers while yawning a bit.

"Jesus Christ, Tris. Do you not sleep or what? You're always tired." Four asks somewhat playfully, but a bit concerned.

Tris lies down while pulling the blanket onto herself. "Well, at least being tired is better than being dirty."

Four snorts. "Oh, I see. You think _I'm_ dirty, though you always hog the bathroom to yourself. How will I clean if you're always there?"

Tris smirks and stretches a bit. "Whatever."

Four rolls his eyes and walks over to his drawer to get a new set of clothing.

"Oh! You're gonna take a shower for real?" Tris asks, surprised.

Four shrugs. "Well, if a Princess hints something like that to you, you do it."

"I'm not a Princess."

Four ignores her statement while entering the bathroom.

"And Tris?"

"Yep?"

"I didn't forget about what happened before we were interrupted by Tori. And we're talking about that later." He informs her faintly before closing the door.

Now she knew how he felt whenever she walked into the bathroom at the most important and suspenseful of times.

Because one of the worst parts of life is waiting for something that you really want to know about.

And everyone knows that if you're doing _nothing_ , time is the slowest.

* * *

 _ **A/N- Okay guys! There's just half a day left before the next mini-game! SO I think we all know what'll be up next chapter...**_

 ** _Review, Follow, Fave, whatever you want! Because your support for this story is AMAZINGGGG!_**

 ** _Omg! I swear, same as last time, I had this chapter written but I ended up rewriting it several times!_**

 ** _If there were ANY mistakes or grammatical errors, I AM SO SORRY! I absolutely_ H-A-T-E _prolonging chapters, so I just tried posting this right now without a DEEP EDIT._**

 ** _And.. Yeah.. I can't think of anything else so.. Yeah.._**

 ** _KK, BYEEEEE!_**


	8. Chapter 8

Tris felt like she had done _everything_ and it had only been 20 minutes.

Was it possible to take a nap for 5 minutes and feel refreshed?

Could people cook, clean, listen to music, exercise, play app games, and change their clothes within only 15 minutes?!

She was feeling so abnormal. Either time hated her, or time itself was broken.

Though, how could the time be broken? Their freedom was ticking away, and the next horrifying mini game to take place was drawing near.

Even after watching the screen about a gazillion times, she looked over again.

 ** _Time Until Next Mini Game: 11:50:09_**

She was dreading the next game. Tris knew exactly how it felt to be playing in one, but now she had to watch someone else suffer through pain without her providing any help?

She knew at least _one_ of her fears, yet no matter what she did to avoid it, it played in her life again and again starting from when her parents were killed to even now.

That specific fear was not spiders or snakes or the ordinary. It was being out of control.

She gets up and walks by the closet where a mirror hangs next to it.

Tris, as usual, frowns at herself as she glances at her reflection.

After all she had done to pass the time, she'd also decided to do a few push ups and sit ups.

Now, Tris was sort of regretting it.

Earlier, she had dug through her drawer until she finally found a muscle tee, a black sorts bra, and some comfortable black Adidas track pants.

It was her comfortable gym wear, but now, her hair was plastered to her face with sweat even though she'd worn a high ponytail, and she felt so exposed with her muscle tee.

It had been 20 minutes, and Tris was so sure that Four would walk out any minute.

But then, that voice played in her head again.

 _Why are you even trying to look good in front of him? You told yourself you'd go slow, but look at you wanting to look all dressed up and neat._

Tris sighs and runs over to get her towel. After wiping the sweat off her forehead, she pulls her hair out of its ponytail and settles for keeping it down, cascading over her shoulders.

And that's all.

She was wearing what she was comfortable with, and _sort of_ listening to the voice, she decides to look like her usual self, but at least not look like someone poured a bucket of water onto her body.

Tris grabs her phone and flops onto her bed with a heaved sigh.

She was pretty afraid of her up-coming conversation with Four.

Tris felt so amazing around him, that she almost _kissed_ him. Even better, he almost kissed her.

But she had basically promised herself that she'd go slow and steady with him, because she didn't know much about Four other than his favorite candy, color, and his playful personality.

Another thing to worry about. What were his intentions?

She could clearly remember him mentioning his playful attitude with everyone, even girls.

So was he popular back in school? A sweet heart? A player?

Tris shakes her head, maybe he was a player. He said himself that he was never in a serious relationship. So did he just have no relationships at all? Flings?... Sex?

Why was she feeling so afraid? They said that they were fine now, and they talked everything out, but, were they?

Then, in what felt like the most miracle of moments, her phone vibrated and she received a text.

 _Something to get my mind off Four, thank you._ Tris thinks gratefully.

CHRISTINA- **I'm so bored, wanna try and see if we can call each other? :/**

TRIS- **Okay, sure?**

Tris holds the phone in her hand as she waits for it to ring, and she feels a rush of small excitement when there's a low default tone ringing softly in her ears.

"Hey Christina." Tris answers.

She pulls the phone away from her as she squeals. "Oh Tris! It works! This is amazing, now I get to talk your ear off!"

Tris grins. "Okay, so I can you talk my ear off then? I really need it."

She can practically feel the curiosity in Christina, but she is grateful that she doesn't push it. "Alright, well, Will is asleep right now." She tells her.

Tris chuckles. "Right...?"

"-And I'd rather tell you this in person but I don't wanna wait."

"That's fine, you can tell me." Tris answers.

"Well, first, I want you to act like a girl."

Tris rolls her eyes. "I _am_ a girl, what in the world do you mean by that?"

The door opens and Four walks out of the bathroom with a towel in his arms. His hair is a bit damp and little beads of water rest on his eyelashes and neck.

Christina heaves a loud sigh. "Just do it!."

Tris glances at Four, then sucks in a deep breath. She pays attention to the phone again and girlishly shrugs her shoulders while twirling a strand of hair around her finger and giggling a bit too dramatically. "Kay, like, what's up?"

Four raises his eyebrows at her weirdly and Tris shakes her head at him with a roll of an eyes and a small smile.

"Okay, Tris. Well... Will kissed me!"

Tris feels herself snap out of her girly character and immediately jump up from the bed. "What?! When?! How?! Where?!"

"Oh my God, you _can_ be a girl?" Christina laughs.

Tris is practically bouncing on her knees. "Just shut up and tell me! Details, dude!"

"Okay, so- Wait, no. I really wanna tell you this in person." Christina whines.

Tris feels her jaw drop. "What the hell, Christina?! You tell me this and now you expect me to wait with all this suspense and shit? The only time I act like this?"

Christina snickers, though it infuriates Tris. "No, it's just that you're acting so responsive to something so girly, and I want to see this in person. You know how you read books or listen to audio, and even though something sounds really good, you'd wanna see it IRL? That's how I feel."

Tris groans and flops down on her bed again. "Okay, fine. Anything else new?"

As Christina thinks of something to say, Tris looks over at Four who's dried his hair and face already. He catches her looking and gives a small small which she returns. His eye color is a deep shade of magnificent blue, and she already feels as though she can drown in them.

His face is glowing so purely... Or maybe that's because he took a shower.

Tris stifles a chuckle and returns her attention back to the phone, in time to hear Christina speak again.

"Dude, I don't know what to talk about. What about you, what'd ya cook?"

Tris glances over at the stove. "What a surprise! You don't know what to say?"

Christina huffs, but then gives a small laugh.

"Well, nothing out of this world, I just made some sandwiches and peeled some oranges."

"Oh, like, the cuties? I'm eating them right now."

Tris smiles. "Nice."

"Hey, what's your go-to chips?" Christina asks.

Tris shrugs. "Damn. I have a load of them. You can't not have a favorite, you know?"

"Uh. I have a favorite. Lays. Original."

Tris fakes a retching noise. "Bleh! Are you kidding me? Those are so classic! What about Pringles and Funyuns and Takis and Churritos and Doritos and Cheetos?!"

"What- What are those?"

Tris feels her heart in her throat. "No. No. You didn't say that. You did not just say that."

Christina is silent.

"Bro, have you even _lived_?"

Tris hears a quiet chuckle. "Aw, Will is waking up."

"Wow, change the topic."

Christina lets out a little giggle. "Well sorry, maybe you can get me those chips and make me change my mind? Otherwise, I'll stick with Lays."

Tris sighs. "Yeah, I'll be counting on it."

"Well, nice talking to ya, I'll talk later, I promise, bye!" Christina declares.

"Bye."

And when Tris hangs up, she is now alone with Four.

"When did you call Christina?" He asks.

Tris sets her phone down and glances back up at him. "She called me a couple minutes before you walked out."

He nods and sits on his bed while popping an orange slice into his mouth. "So. About that thing we were supposed to talk about..."

 _Holy Mother of... Here it comes._ Tris thinks.

And after all her mental preparation and rants to herself, she completely forgets everything and shuts down.

Tris begins drawing circles onto her phone screen. "Well, you were upset. And I was trying to comfort you. And we got carried away. And it won't happen again."

"We got carried away." Four repeats with a cynical look.

Tris meets his eyes and firmly nods. "Yes."

She can easily tell that he's not buying her lie, but then he rakes a hand through his hair roughly.

He exhales forcefully. "Is it that hard to see, Tris?"

"See what?" She asks confused.

He looks a bit irritated now. "It's not that hard to figure out."

Tris has a million thoughts running through her head per minute. Was he really getting upset at something that she couldn't see? It's not like she could see the thoughts that go on in his head. Earlier, she was dreading this conversation because she didn't know his intentions and she was hella confused. So how is she supposed to know what he's talking about?

What was she supposed to 'figure out'?

Four presses his palms into his eyes. "I can't stop thinking about you, Tris." He breathes out quietly.

Tris stops breathing. What the hell was she supposed to say?

And just like that, her mind goes blank. And there is silence.

 _No, no, this wasn't how it was supposed to go. You were supposed to be slow with each other... And... And... He's attracted to you._ The voice in her head panics.

She was losing it. It was like an over-load of information. It had only been what, a couple of days? How was that possible? How was she supposed to tell him that she didn't want a relationship, she didn't want what _this_ was.

The problem was, she did, she was scared, there was going to be a mini game within the next several hours, and she didn't want to be heart broken.

She needed all her focus in her teammates' and her own survival.

All while she freaks out, Four has finally looked up at her to study her reaction, but Tris is absolutely expressionless by then.

"I- I don't think we can do anything about it, Four. " She shakily states.

"Why?" He finally speaks after a moment of silence.

Tris is quiet for a brief second. "...Because there's too much to do. Everyone's lives are on stake, and there's a game coming up."

She feels like she hasn't answered fully, so she restates her answer.

"I mean, a relationship is the last thing I'd look for in here. I don't want to be heart broken, and I don't want to deal with 'love' or whatever."

"I would never hurt you, Tris. I wouldn't allow you to get heart broken or anything."

"It's not just about you _intentionally_ hurting me." Tris states bitterly.

Four rakes a hand through his hair again, expecting an elaborated answer. Due to which Tris sighs rather heavily.

"Here. Pretend, that I were to confess my liking for you, and right here right now, we kiss. We are now in a relationship. Several hours later, the next mini game has started. Who is chosen? You, Four. Then, something really horrible happens, and God forbid, but you die. Now here we all are, and how the hell do you think I would feel?"

Four is quiet before he slowly looks up at her. "But life is about taking chances, Princess."

Tris stares back at him with incredulity. "Are you kidding?"

"No. I'm dead serious. When was the last time you just sat back and relaxed? Just lived in the world without any precautions?"

Tris suddenly tenses. Well then, what a touchy touchy topic. "The last time I did, was right before my parents were killed. It's something that I regret so so so bad."

Just thinking about it was forcing her eyes to water, but she couldn't and wouldn't let it happen. Not now, not with Four in front of her, staring at her like she was suddenly the most precious and fragile thing that ever walked on the face of the earth.

She felt like throwing up, but she knew nothing would come. Tris gets up and walks over to the kitchen sink while opening the faucet. She fills up a glass of cold water and slowly drinks it, the cool liquid slipping down her throat and into her stomach. Her eyes tear up, and a few slide down her face without warning.

She could remember her parents death like it was playing again in front of her, and the regret spreads throughout her body all over again.

"Tris." A jolt goes through her, and she turns around.

She roughly wipes her tears away as she realizes that Four is standing right in front of her.

"Yeah?" She forces out, breathlessly.

He takes a deep breath and slowly lets it out. "I'm sorry."

Tris bites the inside of her lips and feels the tears start up again, when she suddenly steps forward and sets her hands on his waist.

She can't remember deciding to do that. But she also can't move away.

Slowly, she pulls herself against his chest, wrapping her arms around him, her fingers skimming the muscles of his back.

A few seconds later, Four touches the small of her back and presses her closer, while he smooths his other hand over her hair.

Tris felt small, like the height she was, but what he's doing doesn't scare her. She feels safe, like people should be with their loved ones.

But was this really going to turn into love?

Tris slowly glances up at Four, and he gives her an attentive look before resting his forehead onto hers while closing his eyes. Then, after a moment, he slowly grazes the tip of his nose along her neck, her jaw, her cheek, then touches his lips to her forehead, right between her eyebrows.

Tris closes her eyes as well, and lets the tears slide down her face. She didn't understand what this was. Whatever it was.

But she also didn't want to ruin it, so she says nothing.

Four doesn't move; he just stays there with his mouth pressed to her skin, offering her the comfort she either needs or deserves from the hurt she's feeling, and Tris stays there, leaning against the kitchen counter with her hands on his waist, for a long time.

* * *

 _ **Time Until Next Mini Game: 00:10:28**_

Tris stares at the time with half closed eyes while hugging a pillow to her chest.

Four was fast asleep in his bed beside her, but she would need to wake him up.

Tris couldn't explain her emotions with Four, but the closest words to sum them up right now was probably 'at ease'.

She was too tired to even sort out her thoughts, and either way, she knew that she'd be fully awake by the time the next mini game started, which was not far away.

Tris glances back at the kitchen sink, and suddenly remembers the way Four felt against her.

She couldn't tell how much time had passed, but certainly a lot.

Tris looks over at Four again and studies the soft features of his face while asleep. Was it honestly _possible_ for someone to look so perfect and good-looking, she did not know.

She quickly gets up and slips on her gladiator sandals. She didn't care that she was still wearing her muscle tee and track pants, she just needed to wake up Four and get to the cafeteria now.

Tris quickly decides to get her hair out of her face and after pulling it into probably the most embarrassing, messiest bun, she grabs her phone, room key, and begins shaking Four awake.

When Four slowly sits up she goes to the fridge to grab a nice and cold water bottle which froze just a bit, then opens the door.

"Four, come on, we seriously gotta go, there's almost 5 minutes left!" She tells him while bouncing on her heels.

Four sleepily glances over at her, then grabs his necessities and follows her out of the door as he rubs the sleep out of his eyes and off his face.

Tris is quick to walk toward the cafeteria, and Four matches her pace after a few moments of yawning and trying to wake up.

Finally, they reach the cafeteria to find that a few people from the blue table still need to arrive.

Tris looks at the black table and immediately feels uneasy after spotting that there is space for two people to sit left, but right next to Al.

After walking over, she slides onto the seat followed by Four and wipes her hand onto her knees to get rid of the sweat that had gathered there.

Her and Four's thighs were pressed together from the limited amount of space, and she tries to keep her cool.

"Hi Tris." Al whispers, his words causing his breath to brush against the side of her neck.

Tris tenses and nods, a scent of strong lemongrass and sage filling her nostrils. "Hey."

She looks away and finds Uriah and Marlene staring at her.

"Hey, Tris." They greet at the same time.

Tris chuckles. "What, are you guys a couple or something? Don't couples think the same thing?"

Uriah looks embarrassed as Marlene bursts out laughing. "No, we're not."

Tris smiles and glances over at Christina who's unconsciously leaning against a Will that has a ghost of a smile dancing on his lips.

She also studies everyone on the table who's looking nervous and talking to each other, but when she gets back to Al, he's still already staring at her.

Tris immediately presses her hands into her thighs, hard, and gives him a forced smile.

Al instantly returns it with a grin, then, "There's only a minute left until the game starts."

Tris looks around. "How do you know?"

Al gestures toward the screen, and while doing so, he scoots closer to her.

Tris nods and discreetly scoots closer to Four, holding onto her thighs to keep her hands from shaking.

Al doesn't notice, but he goes back to talking to Will and Christina.

Tris shivers and looks away from him when suddenly Four's mouth is next to her ear and his hand is grabbing onto her right one.

"What's wrong?" He asks, while his warm and much more pleasurable breath tickles her ear.

Tris shakes her head. "Nothing, why?"

"...You were practically putting all your body weight on my leg."

Tris looks down and notices how her right hand is resting on his left thigh, and how he's still holding onto it.

Four notices and lets go, then looks back at her when she speaks.

"I'm sorry, I thought your thigh was my own." Tris answers sheepishly while biting the inside of her cheek.

"Are you sure you're fine? You look creeped out"

Tris glances over at Al who's laughing at something and shakes her head. "Yeah, I'm fine, positive, thanks though."

"Sure..." Four answers, brushing off her lie, before turning back to Uriah.

Finally, the last set of people walk in, and there's a loud ping as the cafeteria door locks and everyone turns toward the screen, already dreading the next game.

 **You all should be familiar with the procedure we have set for you when there is a game present. Again, same as last time, this game will only consist of one teammate per team.**

 **However, each game will be different, as of this one, a few skills should be required. Some of which include, stamina, strength, speed, and essentially balance.**

 **Without further ado, will kindly appreciate a volunteer to go and pull the lever.**

Tris plays with her cold water bottle as someone from the blue table stands and makes their way over to the side where the lever is.

There's a series of clicks, and Tris begins to peel the label off the bottle as there's suddenly a single gasp coming from each table.

"Tris." Someone whispers to her.

She looks up and sees Al pointing. "Read the screen."

She glances up and is suddenly standing, and trying to get out of her seat, when Al grabs her arm and pulls her down.

 **GROUP A: MOLLY**

 **GROUP B: CHRISTINA**

She helplessly watches as Christina and a brown haired girl from the opposite table slowly walk toward the front of the room where Tris and Peter stood not so long ago.

Tris grabs her water bottle as she follows everyone else to the observation room, and she just manages to catch Christina's nervous gaze before the door shuts and she is now in a room with a screen of Molly and Christina bouncing on the heels of their shoes.

Tris makes her way over to the front of the screen where Will is looking like he'll freak out any second, and she places a comforting hand onto his arm.

Why she's not freaking out either, she did not know.

On the screen, the door slides open, and the two girls walk into the room where Tris almost died, except, she is surprised to see that this time, the scene is different.

And Tris is no longer in the mood to even _hold_ her water bottle anymore.

* * *

 _ **A/N- So... If Tris is suddenly sick of her water bottle, does that mean it has something to do water?**_

 _ **AND HOLY MOTHER OF GOD THIS WAS THE SHITTIEST CHAPTER EVER AND I AM SO SO SO SORRY I FEEL SO HORRIBLE!**_

 _ **I won't put the DETAILS DETAILS,,,,,,,,,,**_

 _ **This chapter was supposed to be up and done by Friday, but my parents had the hugest and scariest fight ever, and my siblings and I were so scared because my mother acted like she'd kill my father on the spot, and we all would literally try and stay with my dad to prevent it, but then half way through, my mom runs into the room and makes a phone call, then she's like, PACK YOUR STUFF! And my siblings and I are thinking, 'Are we running away?!' but then EVEN THOUGH THE FIGHT IS SO EFFIN SCARY AS HELL, SUDDENLY MY MOM PUSHES US OUT OF THE DOOR WITH OUR PACKED CLOTHES, and standing there is our Aunt, and a minute later my dad goes to work.**_

 _ **So my Mom tells my aunt (her sister) to keep us at her house overnight because she wants us to get away, and my dad gets an extra 2 hour shift to stay away from my mom, and then yeah... I have no idea what's happened now, because I'm STILL at my aunt's house, and we have no clue what's going on, and yeah.**_

 _ **Believe me, I'd never let anyone know this but seeing how nobody knows who I am?... Hey there, this is my shitty abnormal life.**_

 _ **So with my aunt, we watched Inside Out in the theaters, believe me when I say it ALMOST explains my whole life with the parents and money and stuff.**_

 _ **Again, sorry for the horrible chapter.**_

 _ **Bye I guess...**_

 _ **Review, Favorite, Follow, whatever you want, again, I'm sorry, I just couldn't think properly when writing the rest of the chapter.**_

 _ **I'll just post this before I write more...**_


	9. Chapter 9

Immediately, Tris's gaze flickers everywhere to study the surroundings of the game.

All she can see is a long silver railing, and beneath it, a dark and roaring river with crashing waves. Not to mention the sharp deadly looking rocks on the bottom.

This game would _literally_ mean, a life or death situation.

She shouldn't be freaking out, if anything, Christina should. Tris should be there for comfort and help, not to cry and be afraid.

Tris lets go of Will's arm and slowly inches closer to the screen that is now displaying a zoomed in version of the instructions.

 **Ah, this looks a bit different, now doesn't it?**

 **As said before, each game will be unique in its own way. As for this one, the concept is quite simple, but with the wrong move, your ending will be tragic.**

 **Now, the instructions for this are quite understandable.**

 **You must climb from the bottom of the railings, all the way until the end of the room. From there, you will need to drop from the air, and into a much more peaceful pool of water. Then, you will go and slam that red button.**

 **But here's the catch that you might have already observed. If you become too weak while climbing, you will fall to your death and your body will be pierced into pieces. And when dropping down into the pool of water, keep in mind that it is _surrounded_ with jagged rocks, so if you do not position yourself correctly, it's a good bye to you.**

 **Hope you know how to swim. Good luck.**

 **And you may begin.**

Tris watches as Molly immediately jumps for the railing, and grips onto it with an intimidating amount of strength. She begins to climb her way across as fast as she can.

She wants to win.

It appears though, that Christina, does not.

"Why is she not moving?!" Lynn asks loudly.

Tris turns temporarily and meets her gaze. "Unlike Molly, I think she's stretching, so half way in the climbing, her muscles won't strain."

As she turns around, she is proven right. Christina is sitting on the floor, reaching for her toes and silently moving her lips to count the seconds for each side.

Finally, Christina stands, and studies the room again, while looking at Molly's distance as well.

She is a bit far ahead, but anything can happen.

Tris crosses her arms and begins to bounce on the heels of her feet. "Come on, Christina, please focus and win."

She feels everyone's gazes on the back of her head but she ignores them and puts all her attention back into the game.

Unlike Molly, Christina skillfully grabs onto the railing and uses her body weight to swing herself forward, then, she quickly slides across the railing a couple of feet.

"You can do it, Christina." Someone else says.

Tris feels a brush of an arm and looks beside her where Will is suddenly standing.

 _Didn't Christina say they kissed? What gruesome timing to have a game._ Tris thinks dreadfully.

As she looks back at the screen, she can see that Christina is almost catching up to Molly, and Molly's speed has currently slowed down.

Tris can't help but feel a bit glad. The game was going very simple so far, and there were no eventful twists. The girls were practically in their own zone.

That is, until Christina passes a sweating and shaking Molly, who is suddenly swinging her legs and making contact with Christina's waist.

" _Holy shit_ -." Tris repeats to herself again and again as there's a loud scream of pain and strain as one of her hands slip from the railing, and her grip with the other does not look promising at all.

Tris bites the inside of her cheeks to keep from panicking and yelling profanities, instead, she crosses her arms again and forces herself to watch it happen like you would to a movie.

Will, however, is freaking out.

Tris watches Christina and silently prays that she'll bring her balance back to its strengths again. This girl had essentially become her best friend. Sure, it hadn't been long, but honestly, it's not like Tris even _had_ close friends to begin with. If she did, she couldn't remember, her memory and everything important just faded away after her parents death.

"You're such a fucking _asshole._ Wait, I'll slam you into the rocks and watch you're dark blood splatter." Christina seethes as she manages to shakily regain her balance.

Her rage is the only thing that is fueling her strength now, the same way rage filled Tris's body with a psycho energy that literally helped her beat the crap out of Peter and slam the red button.

Tris looks over at Molly who laughs and shakes her head. "You're pathetic and weak, you expect to knock _me_ off?"

Christina climbs as fast as she can. "Bitch, I don't even have to _try_ if I want to knock you off. You're some ugly excuse for a human, you look like a decomposing, mutated, pig with hair that looks like the color of fresh brown shit."

Tris bites the inside of her cheek to stifle her laugh. She covers her mouth either from how ridiculously true Christina's statement was, or just to calm her nerves.

She glances over at Will and notices that familiar ghost of a smile. The one that dances upon his lips.

When Tris looks back at the screen, she is absolutely surprised to see that they've made it to the end of the room.

Christina, however, is smirking. Tris recognizes the look, and can see herself giving the exact expression to Peter when she was shooting at him or just throwing profanities.

Molly screams as Christina swings her right foot into her jaw, and Tris herself winces at the sight of fresh blood beginning to spill out.

Trying to stop the pain, Molly stupidly grabs at her face, only to remember that she's hanging hundreds of feet above the air. As she falls with an echoing scream, though her body falls into the peaceful pool of water, her leg slams into the jagged rocks. She howls even louder than before.

Christina drops down as well, however, her positioning was obviously more accurate. Molly is furious. Though she's in pain, she slams her other foot into Christina's face, and momentarily, she falls back into the water. When she emerges, she has a cut near her lip.

"Dude, I'm not even gonna-"

Molly cuts Christina off again by punching at her cut, which bleeds even more. Christina starts to look nauseated, but she shakes her head.

"Why the hell are you trying?" She hisses.

Christina looks tired. She moves to swim out of the pool when Molly lunges at her and plunges Christina's head under the water. She flails around, but Molly is heavier than her.

"She's drowning her!" Will yells while staring unbelievably at the screen.

Slowly, Christina's frantic movements slow down, and her arms sink back into the water. Tris can feel her heart pounding out of her chest.

 _No, she can't die!_ Tris yells at herself.

Unexpectedly, Christina's arms shoot out and strike Molly's wounded leg right where she was pierced with the rocks.

Tris coughs, trying not to throw up, as she glances at Molly's leg which looks dislocated.

Christina spits some blood in her direction, then swims out of the water. She smacks the red button with the rest of her energy.

Her eyes flutter closed tiredly, then she slowly collapses from exhaustion.

There's a loud siren representing the end of the game, and obviously, a certain sweet victory for Group B.

Everyone runs out of the observation room through a different door where Christina and Molly will be.

Tris runs with them, but she doesn't run straight over to Christina like she'd planned to.

Instead, Tris looks back at Molly to see half of her leg hanging with pink flesh and white bone sticking out in a very graphic way, due to which bile rises into her throat.

...

 _Remember the way dad's arm was sticking out of the car window and his hand was all pink flesh and crooked? The way blood pooled out of the car like water flooding a basement? The way the vehicle was flipped and each piece of shattered glass was painted red or pink with fresh blood?_

 _..._

Though everyone in her team is talking to Christina, trying to get her to communicate, Tris immediately runs toward the roaring waters and falls to her knees. No more than a second later, she retches and all the bile she was tasting just a minute ago comes out of her mouth.

She could care less that people might be watching her feel sick. Her parents death was something that would forever be engraved into her memory, fresh like a cake that had come straight out of the oven.

She couldn't tell if this mini game really _was_ a victory, or just something to remind her of her family.

Half way into spilling her guts, someone grabs her hair out of her face, while using the other to soothingly rub at her back.

Assuming it's Four, Tris's relaxes and doesn't push him away.

Tris sits back after wiping her mouth using the back of her hand, and feels the tears gather in her eyes but she doesn't let them fall. She just rests her head between her knees and focuses on her breathing.

The hand continues to rub her back. Then, "Everything will be fine, Tris."

Al.

Tris shoots up into a standing position and forces herself to walk a few steps back, though her body wants to do anything but.

"Why did you follow me, why aren't you with Christina?" She croaks.

Al stands up as well. "You didn't look good, I was just helping you."

Tris glances over at the crowd who're still trying to get Christina to speak, then back at Al.

Was she supposed to feel really happy, or not? If anything, she was feeling irritated.

 _Why the hell is he following me, when Christina is literally unconscious and won't respond?!_

"It's okay, you didn't have to follow me, I'm feeling fine now, I'll just go see Christina." Tris tells him quickly before walking back over to her team.

Group A has already left with Molly, but Christina is lying on the floor with everyone surrounding her.

Tris makes her way over to Christina and crouches down in front of her, using a gentle touch like a mother and soothingly rubbing at her arm, whispering for her to focus and come back.

After what seems like several minutes, Christina whispers something.

"What?" Tris asks while leaning closer.

"Ew." She utters huskily.

Christina reaches up and pulls Tris's hair out if its bun, then she ties it into a high ponytail.

"What the hell, Christina?" Tris laughs.

"Thank you, for making me come back to reality, and find a horrible bun right in front of me. I might as well faint again, and it'll be your fault."

Tris laughs again and leans back while slowly pulling Christina into a gentle sitting position.

She clears her throat to get rid of all evidence of the earlier events, then, "Hey, how was the game for you?"

Christina smiles back at her. "I don't know, it was pretty intense and painful, but to be honest, it was awesome."

Tris reels back even further. "Um, what?"

Christina grins. "Yeah, I know right? But I got to kick Molly's ass, and it was amazing."

Tris crosses her arms. "Yeah, I'll admit, it was pretty cool, but do me a huge favor and stay away from Molly? Once her leg..."

Tris pauses, trying not to throw up again.

"...- Once her leg is better, she'll never leave you alone."

Christina shrugs. "Of course, I've got you by my side, so what's there to worry about?"

Tris smiles and studies Christina's hands. "Anything damaged? Injuries?"

Christina brushes her question away. "Nah, just maybe a bruise on my waist, and a few scratches and blisters on my hands. Probably a bruise and cut on my face as well? Nothing severe, maybe my body will be sore from all that climbing, but compared to _your_ mini game, I'm hella great."

Tris stands up and nods. "Okay, think what you want, but that was crazy. Can you at least still go to Tori to check your waist and all that?"

Christina nods. "Yep."

After that, everyone starts to bombard Christina with questions and comments. Tris watches for a while, then finally just decides to leave.

As she's walking back, she hears footsteps behind her and she bites the inside of her cheek frustratingly. "Al, I'm fine, what now?"

When she turns around, she sees Four looking at her, with an unreadable expression.

"Al?" He repeats.

Tris pauses in her step and shakes her head. "Sorry, I thought you were him."

Four walks over to her and stuffs his hands into his pockets. "Why, is he close or..."

Tris scoffs and begins walking, matching her pace evenly with Four's. "No, he's just... _Trying_ to be helpful, I guess, but I just wanna be alone."

Four opens his mouth, but Tris cuts him off. "When I mean alone, I just don't want to be near him. But you're fine, you don't have to leave."

Four nods, and they reach their room. He unlocks their door and allows Tris to step inside first.

"So," He begins while closing the door. "What happened back there?"

Tris moves to rake a hand through her hair when she pauses and takes her hair out if its ponytail.

"Nothing." She sighs while running a couple fingers through the tips, getting rid of temporary tangles.

Four lets out a deep breath and places his phone and key onto the counter. "You threw up, Tris. And it probably wasn't mainly because of Molly. I saw you really nauseated even before Molly fell."

Tris is silent, not knowing what to say. All she comprehended from the sentence was, he was watching her throughout the game.

"You know, you can talk to me." He tells her while grabbing a water bottle from the fridge, then making his way over and sitting on her bed.

She flops down next to him and shrugs. "I know... It's just... Too much."

Four nods slowly. "Okay, but Tris, it's not good to keep things suppressed inside."

She nods. "Yeah, I know."

He hands her the water bottle after opening it. "Here."

Tris takes it from his hands reluctantly, then drinks at least half of the bottle before closing the cap and setting it down.

They sit in comfortable silence for a few moments.

"Have you... Ever experienced, or done something so bad in life, that it's engraved into your mind? That every time you try to escape it, it'll slap you back in the face? Like, you're so scarred, that you feel like it's a part of you, forever?" Tris asks, deciding to put her current situation in a question.

Four is silent for a moment, then nods. "Yeah, it's... Really bad."

"So... How do you deal with it? How do you make it stop?" Tris asks quietly.

A look of understanding crosses Four's face. "Did something happen to you?"

Tris is still for a few seconds. "Well... Essentially, yeah."

"Does it have something to do with-"

"No." She interrupts. "Not Al."

Four shrugs then. "Well, there really is no way of forgetting. This may sound really rubbish and cliché, but honestly, it's true. You can't forget something tragic, but you are in charge of how you feel. It's just your choice if you want to be happy, or horrible."

Tris sits still. "But it's so hard."

Four looks at her with a smile, but beneath it is sadness. "Princess, how could something horrible happen to you?"

He says it so quietly, that Tris almost thinks she shouldn't have heard it. But she did. And she doesn't know why, but she feels... Special. That someone cares for her, that someone wants to provide comfort for someone like her, because she is so broken, yet he is still here.

She chooses to pretend that she hadn't heard his sentence. It'd be her little secret to treasure.

They stare at each other for a few moments, before Tris shrugs her shoulders and stands.

"I'll just go change my clothes." She tells him, then, "Are you hungry? I can make something."

Four shakes his head. "I'm fine."

It's only when Tris heads for her drawer of clothes, that she realizes how close they were sitting. There was a distance of only a few inches between their knees.

Tris grabs some black shorts, and her hoodie t-shirt before turning back to Four.

"Don't look, please. Just turn around."

Four smiles. "I was going to do that... Obviously."

She smiles back and after he turns around, Tris faces the drawer again and takes off her muscle tee. Carefully, she puts on her hoodie t-shirt, careful with her bullet wounds. It might be healed, as Tori has said, but she didn't want to take any chances and have it tear later on.

Then she does the same with her pants, and changes into some shorts.

After taking her hair out of the collar of her shirt, she fixes her clothes one last time, then turns around and glances at the door.

Tris swallows slowly. "Um, I think I'm gonna go to Tori's, wanna come?"

"Are you done?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm done."

He turns and smiles with a shrug. "If you want, I'll come."

She grabs her phone and key. "Yeah... I want you to come."

As Four stands up to grab his phone and key as well, Tris replays what she just told him.

The sentence felt so intimate. For some reason, it was as if she was telling him a huge secret. It was like some weird commitment she was making with Four.

'I want' were a strong pair of words.

Maybe she did like Four. And though it was a very scary thing for her to think, maybe the want with him would come.

* * *

"Oh, hey Tris. Christina and everyone else just left a few minutes ago, you can probably catch her at her room." Tori tells her as Tris and Four step inside.

Tris shakes her head. "Aw, no, we came for you."

Tori pretends to put a hand on her heart. "M-me? But I still have a life to live! People to care about!"

"We're not gonna torture you... Yet... But stay calm and sit." Tris chuckles jokingly.

She loved Tori. Not like a mother, obviously, but as a grown up to be there for her. She bought the vulnerability out of you. As it seems, she can bring the childish personality as well.

Tris sits down on one of the couches and Four does the same next to her.

"So what brings you both here?" Tori asks, while coming to sit in front of them.

Honestly, she had no clue. But now that Tris was here, she realized that she wanted answers. And maybe Tori would be a person to ask.

"Well. I don't know. I guess to ask a few questions." Tris tells her.

Tori nods. "Right then, I'll try to answer them."

Tris shifts her position until she's sitting criss-cross, and her knee unintentionally rests against Four. She felt it'd be too awkward to remove it, so she lets her knee stay where it was, pretending she didn't notice.

"Um... For starters... Were you kidnapped?"

Tori nods her head, as though trying to search for a simple answer. Maybe hesitating is a better word. "Well, yeah."

Tris and Four share the quickest of looks, so quick that Tori doesn't get a chance to comprehend what they did.

Tris searches her mind for good questions. She couldn't think of any, yet she _knew_ that they were there. She knew there were unanswered questions that should be answered, yet her mind was blank.

"Do you know where we are?" Tris finally decides to ask.

Tori smiles immediately. "Ah, yes, I do know. It's pretty crazy... And obvious. Look around more, explore, the answer is right in front of your eyes."

Four sits straighter. "Okay, I have a question."

"Go for it." Tori responds.

Tris watches Four. His eyes suddenly look more focused and curious. He must have a genuine question, because she can practically see the gears shifting in his mind.

"You know how when we got here the first day, and that screen said that they'd been watching us? So, other than the games, are they _still_ watching us?" Four asks.

Tori nods slowly. "That's a very good question. I'm gonna have to tell you, the answer is the same as how I answered Tris's question."

He looks slightly irritated by the vague answers, but he sits back again and masks it. "Sure."

Tris changes her position again, just keeping her legs down. "I have two more questions. First, how long had we been watched?"

It was a question that had lurked her mind the first time they had been kidnapped. They were chosen, yes, but how long did it take for _them_ to study their skills and cleverness? Their weaknesses and breaking points?

"That's easy. The moment you began to struggle in life, and everything you'd ever dreamed of shot down. You said you had one more question, am I right?"

 _What the hell did that answer mean?_ Is all Tris can think.

Tris wipes her sweaty hands onto her thighs, trying to keep them from being sticky. "Yeah, I did have another question. How do you know all this?"

The moment Tris finishes the sentence, Tori looks troubled and frantic. She repeatedly glances behind her. "Hmm. Maybe that will be answered for a different time, I'm not so sure of the answer myself."

Four stands up, and silently motions for Tris to do the same. "We should get going, we need to get back."

Tori stands as well. "Oh, please stay-"

Tris cuts her off, trying to understand why Four wants them to leave. "No, it's fine. We didn't get to see Christina and it'd look pretty rude if we didn't stop by."

Tori nods, and they both exit her room. When in the hall, they slowly walk back toward their own room.

"What was that about?" Tris asks Four quietly.

He shakes his head. "She looked scared. I don't know, I just thought we should leave, maybe we were asking too much?"

"Why would she be scared? It's her own room."

"It's the infirmary, in a way. Maybe Tori has her own room, but that definitely isn't it if she wasn't that comfortable." Four answers.

Tris's eyes skim the walls. One of the things that kept replaying in her head was that where they were was so obvious. But how? All she could see were countless halls, hanging lights, chipped paint, wet and misty-

She stops walking.

"Oh my, God." Tris whispers. She walks over to the wall.

"What happened?" Four asks.

She feels him come beside her. "Help me peel this a bit, will you? It's chipped."

They both use their nails to kind of dig through the layer of black paint, and Tris shakes her head in disbelief as they get to a hard layer of silver and grey,

"What the crap? How is that freaking possible?"

Four gives her a weird look.

"Don't you see?" She tells him while pointing at the wall. "That is-"

She stops when Four gestures for her to quiet down, and she frowns as his expression shows he's nervous.

Four pulls her to a random dark hall. After looking around, he glances back at Tris, carefully removing his hand from her arm.

"Shh.. Say it quietly." He tells her.

Tris looks at him as if he's crazy, then shakes her head, remembering her discovery. "You know that grey layer? It's stone! S-T-O-N-E! We're _under the ground_! But how is that even-"

She pauses as she notices Four squinting through the dark.

"Did you even listen to what I said?" She asks, kind of disappointed.

Four sees her frown and shakes his head. "No! I heard every word, that's so crazy, right? But, I made a certain discovery too."

Her breath hitches as he wraps an arm around her shoulder and pulls her close. He felt so warm and comfortable. She never took note that their bodies fit so perfectly together. "Here, do you see that over there? It's high and near the ceiling?"

Tris holds her breath as he whispers this near her ear very quietly. After squinting her eyes, letting it adjust to the dark, she sees it. Very small, and very cleverly hidden.

Tori was right, their answers to their questions were right in front of them.

For one, they were underground.

And even more worse, was that they both understood why Tori may have freaked out.

"It's a camera." Four whispers quietly, his warm breath tickling her ear. She doesn't know if the shiver that follows is because of Four's closeness, or the obvious conclusion to the camera.

They were still watching them. Not only at the games, but even outside of it. Her only concern was, were there cameras in their rooms? And even worse, did they hear what she and Four just figured out?

* * *

 _ **A/N- Hey Guys! I tried to update this earlier in the week, but I had to do a lot of editing and then here we are, a new week.**_

 _ **THNX SO MUCH FOR UR KIND AND AMAZING REVIEWS, THEY ARE THE ONLY THING THAT ENCOURAGES ME TO WRITE MORE, AND THEY MAKE MY DAY!**_

 _ **Seriously, I'll feel in a horrible mood, but then I'll read your reviews and feel a priority to give another chapter to you all, so here it is!**_

 _ **The FourTris is getting SO SO SO hard to write, I swear! Gah!**_

 _ **Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter!**_

 _ **Sorry for any typos if there are any, I was sorta in a rush, so as usual, I probably didn't edit properly!**_

 _ **Please Review, Follow, or Fave, whatever you want!**_

 _ **And I'll see ya'll later, BYEEEEE!**_


	10. Chapter 10

Tris was feeling so down.

It was probably 2:00 am, but she couldn't bring herself to sleep, her mind had decided to go in its usual dark place.

After the 'camera and underground' incident, she and Four had come back and searched the entire room for nearly an hour, just trying to make sure there were no devices. None were found.

Then, they ate sandwiches, and while Four went in the bathroom, Tris called Christina to make sure she was doing fine. Instead, Will picked up, saying that she was taking a nap since her muscles were sore. He also gave her a short report about Christina, talking about how Tori had applied cream to her blisters, cleaned her cuts, and even gave an injection containing a serum that was probably the same as Tris's.

Will sounded knowledgeable about the treatments done to Christina so Tris trusted him, knowing very well that he'd take care of her.

Nothing very crazy happened after that, Four just talked with her for a bit, then they both decided to sleep around maybe 10:00 pm.

That's when her memories came crashing back, and since there was nothing to distract her from it, she was vulnerable to its effects.

That is why she was feeling down.

Tris sits up from her bed and curls the blanket around her body tightly, ruffling the rest of it into her curled fists.

She couldn't stop thinking about her parents death. It was just so... anguishing? Though there were many synonyms for sad, she would never be able to decide on one to express it all.

 _"Who is it? Mom, is it you? Did you bring the shirt that I forgot?" I asked on the phone, a bit breathlessly from laughing so hard with my group of friends._

 _I fiddled with the blue napkin next to me, smiling as everyone ran around in a good mood, passing out cake and coke for everyone at the birthday party._

 _"Oh, my name is Prisanna. I'm using your mother's phone right now?" An unidentifiable woman answers, her voice polite and smooth._

 _"Uh. Okay, where's my mom?" I pried, a bit confused._

 _"Yes, I am so sorry. But... She's... been in a very severe car accident. And there's a man next to her, I think your father? I'm using her phone to contact any family members, and I'm guessing you're her daugh-"_

Tris throws the blanket off her body and tries to control her breathing. The lump in her throat was thick and the tears gathering in the corners of her eyes were hot and stinging.

Why did it keep flashing before her again and again? Was it like those happy memories? The ones where you drift off randomly and think about something funny that happened to you, and you just randomly burst out laughing and people around you think you're crazy, when you're not? Except with herself, she felt like when she drifted off, she remembered the death, and instead of laughing, she'd cry.

She _had_ to get it out. She didn't want to cry, it may feel good but she didn't want to turn into this stupid bawling baby who cried at every problem. She wanted to be someone who'd be very strong, and only cried for something over-whelming.

Every person has a way of feeling calm in private, whether it be taking a walk or a long drive, maybe punching a pillow, screaming, eating, or even writing a diary entry. There were many ways to deal with yourself.

And it was pretty obvious she needed one too.

It's not like she _didn't_ ever have one though, because she _did_ have a coping technique. It was playing Minecraft. But obviously, that was no option, so she needed to think of something else.

She wasn't alone in the room, that was for sure, but it _was_ night.

Tris slowly pushes herself out of the bed and takes a few steps close to Four, letting her eyes easily adjust to his handsome, sleeping figure. With the even breaths he was taking, she knew he wouldn't wake easily.

As lightly as she could, Tris sits down onto his bed and slowly lowers herself onto his pillow so that her head rests right next to his.

She shifts her body so that she is facing him. No, she did not have a diary, but maybe she had Four. She clearly remembered him telling her that she could tell him anything. He obviously didn't mean talking to him when he was asleep, but that wouldn't stop her.

He was breathing lightly from his nose, and she could feel his small exhales brush against her cheek. After taking a deep breath herself, she opens her mouth.

"Dear Four," She begins in a quiet voice, but quite perfect in volume for him to hear if he were awake.

"You told me that I can tell you anything, so I will. I know you're sleeping, but it's easier for me this way, and I don't think you'd blame me if that's what I wanted."

Tris shifts again so that her right hand is resting under her right cheek as an extra pillow. "I've been having problems lately, other than the games... But like a story does, they start with the small stuff and gradually get to the main conflict. So I'll do the same. Consider this a chapter one."

Tris studies his face closely. There was a little stubble beginning to grow, something you wouldn't be able to notice unless you were real close.

"So I'll just start with myself, I guess. Maybe like the exposition of a story." Tris smiles. "I have a pretty decent family. Just my mom, dad, brother, and me. My brother is my absolute best friend. He's 2 years older than me, so 21. And my mom and dad were those real great parents. They were those people that everyone looked up to."

Tris laughs a bit. "My friends would complain to me about how their parents would yell at them and use my brother and I as examples. You know how parents always give their children lectures and suddenly compare other children with you? Well, everyone would say that we were the 'role models.' It was pretty weird and aggravating to know, but we _finally_ got used to it. I loved my family, but I was always attached to my dad more, like my brother was attached to my mom."

Tris frowns, slowly. "Dad and I would make it a priority to go at least once a week to the movies or just some place to hang out and have a daughter-father time. It was amazingly fun, and he'd always buy me either vanilla ice cream or a blueberry Slurpee at the end."

"My mom and dad loved each other. I don't think their love ever really died down. It was so easy to see the way mom's eyes twinkled when dad made her happy, or the way dad's face lit up as mom would even do so much as _enter_ the room. My brother and I would even purposely go to a friend's house just to let them spend some time with each other, because they were always busy with us."

Tris chuckles as she recalls the memory. "And anyway, my mom was just beautiful. Her hair was amazingly blonde and looked heavenly in the sun's light. Her skin was perfection, her eyes were a beautiful blue, and her body was _so_ perfect. She didn't even have to _try_ to get ready, because everything she wore made her look pretty, regardless. It's very obvious that my brother got her nice genes, and I, did not."

Tris shakes her head. "I got an ugly shade of grey and blue, the most dullest eye color in the world. And I got her blonde hair, but not the perfect curves and skin and smile and height, obviously. It was pretty depressing to have every girl swoon over my brother. And that didn't necessarily mean my dad was ugly either. He was absolutely handsome, with a very cool grayish green eye color, something very unique. When he was young, he was really... hot. It's like my mom and dad were that 'perfect couple'. The popular people. High school sweet hearts. Great personalities, great looks, great house, everything."

"And I even used to be the popular kid with my brother as well in school. The twist is, I was only cool because of my personality. I was this daring, troublemaker, yet I was really giddy and sweet when I wanted to be."

She feels herself choke up. Her breathing was shaking. "And now everything is all gone... Because of me." She said shakily. It was getting hard to breathe again, and her eye vision was blurring.

"We were invited to this birthday party, and- and- we all were getting ready as a family. We joked and laughed as we got all the food and presents, we messed around with... each other... as we-"

Tris begins sucking in huge gushes of air. She was starting to cry, she couldn't speak, her thick throat was making it hard for her to swallow.

"I-I'll just stop there." She gasps with an unstable tone.

Tris quickly gets off Four's bed and back to her own before taking a pillow and stuffing it into her face, hoping her quiet sobs of reappearing grief don't awaken him.

 _How do we leave the past behind when it keeps finding ways to get to your heart?_ Tris asks herself hopelessly.

* * *

It felt like cotton balls were dipped in water and placed onto her eyelids as Tris slowly tries to force them open.

Already, she could feel the dry tears on her face. Her nose was stuffed from crying quietly, and without even speaking, she knew her voice would be raspy and dry.

With one quick look at her phone, she got up and walked over to the sink to wash her face and grab a glass of water. It was around 7:00 in the morning, so she had gotten at least 5 hours of sleep.

Tris wiped at her cheeks and drained the glass of cool water, standing still as the cold liquid slipped down her throat and into her stomach.

Then, she walked into the bathroom and was surprised as she studied herself in the mirror. She'd expected a gross and depressed face, but all she saw were puffy eyes that were pink.

Her hair was brushed though, and her face was clean and free from any eyeliner.

She couldn't remember combing her hair. But then she remembered that while she lay in bed with tears streaming down her face, she'd gotten up to go into the bathroom. Something was wrong with her memory, she had to stop stressing.

Tris clears her throat and tests her voice. "Hi."

Her voice was surprisingly not raspy, only tired. She walks out of the bathroom and to the fridge where she grabs a juice bottle.

After turning around and opening the bottle, she notices Four sleepily rubbing at his eyes and yawning.

She hadn't realized she was staring for too long until several moments later. Immediately, she flops back onto her bed again and takes a sip from her juice. Strawberry.

As she opens her phone to check the time, she notices that someone had texted her.

MARLENE- **When you're free, do you mind coming to my room? Christina is here also.**

Tris stares at the message for a few moments before closing her phone. She'd reply later.

She glances over at Four again to find that he was already staring at her, waiting for eye contact.

"When did you wake up?" Four asks tiredly as he stares at her through half closed eyes.

Tris quickly glances at her phone again. "About half an hour ago."

He nods and rakes a hand through his hair lazily.

"Ever plan on getting up?" She asks him, a small smile dancing on her lips.

He lets a small tired smirk appear onto his face. "I'd rather watch you."

Tris snorts. "Why?"

Four shrugs. "Because you're beautiful. And I'm pretty sure every guy that's ever laid their eyes on you has never been able to keep it away."

"Thanks. I know. My small height and lower than average looks are totally worth looking twice at." Tris responds with an eye roll.

Four frowns. "Why do you do that?"

"Do _what?"_

"Put yourself down?"

Tris clenches her jaw and whispers very quietly under her breath, "Because I don't deserve to be happy."

She's pretty sure Four doesn't hear her answer, because he is quiet for the time being.

Tris goes back on her phone, **Sure, I think right about now if that's fine with you?**

MARLENE- **Yeah! Now is great.**

Tris stands from her bed and Four gives her a questioning look.

"I'm going to Marlene's room, she has to talk to me about a few things. You'll be fine here?" Tris asks as she slips on her sandals and walks toward the door.

Four yawns again and nods. "Yeah. Sure."

She walks out, then locks the door behind her with a frown. She wasn't quite sure why Four was always so determined to tell her she was 'beautiful'. She knew she wasn't pretty, but certainly not ugly either. So where was 'beautiful', a very strong word, coming from?

Instinctively, Tris walks with casualty, knowing very well about the cameras hidden around the halls.

She was getting used to the misty scent of where they were. Good, or bad, she didn't know.

Tris runs her fingertips against the cold walls as she walks. Underneath the paint were layers of rock. They were underground, but how? Was there a cave? A natural hole? Or was this place constructed?

She had to guess that it was constructed. There was a lot if proof to support that prediction. For one, they'd been watched for a long time. And even their clothes perfectly fit them all. They were probably custom made because it wasn't possible for something to perfectly fit every curve, bone, and muscle with ease.

Finally, Tris reaches Marlene's room and knocks. That's when she starts wondering why Christina was there. Wasn't she supposed to rest?

"Hey Tris." Marlene whispers quietly while opening the door.

Tris peers behind Marlene to find Christina seated on Marlene's bed, and Uriah sleeping.

"Hey guys." She tells them while coming inside the room. "What's up?"

Christina grins. "Sorry, don't get too comfortable, we're gonna leave right now."

Tris raises an eyebrow as Marlene and Christina start to walk out the door.

"Why? Where are we going?"

"You'll see. Just follow us." Marlene answers.

Tris quickly runs over to Uriah and ruffles his hair, then looks back at Christina who's gesturing for her to come.

Tris feels her face scrunch into confusion as she slips out of the room while slowly closing the door behind her.

"Christina, why aren't you with Will?" Tris asks as they turn a corner.

Christina shakes her head. "I feel fine now. And I told Will that I was leaving so he's pretty fine with it."

Another turn. "Okay guys. Seriously. Where are we going?"

"Shh. It's a surprise. God, so impatient." Marlene glares.

Tris rolls her eyes. "I hate surprises. Hate. Them."

Christina laughs as they make yet again, _another_ turn.

Finally, they come to a dead end. "Really guys?" Tris groans. "What the hell?"

Marlene nods her head with a smirk. "So anyway, I was in a bad mood, so I was just pacing around everywhere, okay? And I end up here. Yeah, that's right, a dead end. I kicked the wall in frustration because I was annoyed, and this, is what happened."

Marlene turns toward the wall and in slow-motion, dramatically brings her foot forward until it hits the wall.

There's a click, then the wall slides to the left, just like when you're about to enter a game and the wall slides.

Christina walks forward while pulling Tris's arm, and flicks on the light.

Tris gasps as her eyes study the room. "Mother of God."

Targets line the walls, knives and guns rest in neat rows on white tables, different weapons hang threateningly, fighting mats line the floor, and to Tris it looks violently beautiful.

"Welcome... to the training room" Marlene announces in a game-show voice while holding her arms up and spinning around the room. "The place, where you are supposed to train for the games to give yourself a huge advantage when performing. This place however, is only for Team B. So make yourself comfortable, and have fun."

Christina chuckles and uses Marlene's tone as well. "But what is good about a training room, when there are absolutely _no_ trainers?"

"THE COUNCIL HAS SPOKEN!" Two very loud female voices scream in a medieval accent, as they run out from behind the tables.

Tris shrieks as she is almost tackled to the ground, then her arms are being raised by two people.

"THERE HAS BEEN A VERY IMPORTANT VOTE, BUT THE RESULTS HAVE BEEN COUNTED. WE HEREBY ANNOUNCE, THE TWO _OFFICIAL_ TRAINERS OF THIS SACRED ROOM! THE FIRST ONE BEING... TRIS PRIOR!"

Marlene and Christina clap furiously on cue, while Tris shakes her head from how silly everyone is being.

"AND THE SECOND IS... FOUR EATON! WHO IS CURRENTLY _NOT_ PRESENT!"

"Four?" Tris questions as the two people next to her on either sides finally drop her arms.

"Oh my God, Shauna? Lynn? What the hell?!" Tris laughs suddenly as she sees their faces.

"Hey, Tris." They both greet with smiles.

Tris looks around the room, then back at the four girls in front of her. "So, you want _me_ to be the 'trainer'...?"

"No questions asked, of course! You're the only one who'd even know what _this_ is! None of us could name it!" Shauna answers while pointing to a small metal piece.

Tris gasps as she gingerly picks it up in her hands. "Guys! These are _brass knuckles._ Designed to preserve and concentrate a punch's force by directing it toward a harder and smaller contact area, they result in increased tissue disruption, including an increased likelihood of fracturing the victim's bones on impact! They're illegal in a bunch of places and-"

"- So you'll agree to be the trainer?" Christina interrupts.

"Hell yeah." She tells them while setting the brass knuckles down. "And Four? I didn't know he was a violent one."

Lynn snorts. "Fuck yeah, he is. Weapons are his friends. Knives, to be exact, but he's _always_ getting the target bulls-eye."

"You knew him?" Tris asks.

"Yeah, along with Zeke and Uriah. Which is why _we_ voted for him to also be a trainer." She answers.

Tris nods, "He doesn't seem like it."

That's when Lynn starts chuckling. "Yeah... No. He's _very_ intimidating when he wants to be. But only sweet to his friends. What's a huge surprise... Is that he's _always_ sweet... To you. When usually, he hates girls."

"Which _obviously_ means that you're different to him. maybe like... He likes you." Christina sings in a high voice. "And, I told you so!"

Tris feels a blush creep into her cheeks, and she tries to get rid of it by placing the back of her cold hands onto her warm face. "No, he doesn't."

Marlene is suddenly narrowing her eyes. "Do you... Not have a good past? Don't mind me asking."

Tris tenses. "Well, I don't know, maybe, kinda, yeah?"

Marlene smiles and mocks a formal and polite voice like a teacher. "Pistanthrophobia is the fear of trusting people due negative past experiences. It's such a natural response to being hurt, but if you want to be in a happy, healthy relationship, then you need to overcome it."

Tris scrunches her face. "What the... I do _not_ have _trust_ issues!"

Marlene shakes her head. "I was studying to become a doctor. And yeah, the _idea_ is there."

"What symptoms are there." Christina asks with a genuinely interested look.

Marlene shrugs. "When you're depressed, you have trouble talking about the past to people, you don't want to be in a relationship _because_ of your past-"

"- Okay, whatever. I have Pistblahblah I don't know. But _how_ do you get rid of it?"

"Okay, wait, you don't have Pistanthrophobia. If you did and if it was that bad you'd be a creepy ass stalker always wanting to know where everyone was and stuff. I'm just using the general _idea_ for your problem to describe it because I don't know another word for it..."

Tris groans.

"You have to understand that whatever it is that's holding you back from meeting someone or potentially having a good relationship, it's all within your control." Marlene answers.

"My control?"

"Yep."

"Okay... So I have to start trusting Four?"

"I mean, do you think he likes you?" Shauna asks.

Tris shrugs. "I don't know, I'm not an expert. But he calls me beautiful and he told me once that he can't stop thinking about me. And he's kept princess as my nickname."

"WHAT?!" Christina interrupts. "He said that? Oh my God!"

They all turn to her. "He likes you, end of story." Marlene concludes.

Tris bites the inside of her cheek. "But trust doesn't come fast."

"Of course it doesn't, silly. We're just telling you that the signs are there, and maybe it's safe." Shauna tells her.

"And obviously, it'll take time, but either way, it's all up to you. The important question is, do _you_ like him?"

Tris looks around the room, avoiding eye contact. It was so confusing. She lost every technique, every fact, every knowledge about boys when her parents were killed. It just didn't seem important to her anymore. Her loud and daring personality became a deathly quiet and isolated one.

 _Life is about taking chances, Princess._

She takes a deep breath. It was now, or never.

"Yeah, I think I like him." Tris finally answers with a ghost of a smile.

"I would've slapped some sense into you if you'd have said no." Christina laughs.

Tris rolls her eyes. "Well, that was a pretty intense conversation, but can we start now?"

"No, we can't."

"Why?" Tris huffs.

"Because we gotta call the boys before they start worrying about _us._ " Marlene tells her with a funny quirk of an eyebrow.

Tris laughs. "Wow. okay, I'll go get Four."

"Who knows, maybe there's some feelings going on between us as well." Shauna laughs as she exits the room.

Tris rolls her eyes and follows them out the door.

* * *

 _ **A/N- Hey guys! New update. So I kinda kept this a happy note, and I'm pretty sure you all know that next chapter will be about training and stuff.**_

 _ **I'm starting to get scared about school coming up, mine starts the 18th and updating will be hard!**_

 _ **But yeah, WOW GUYS! There's a LOAD of new people following this story, and thank you for the AMAZING reviews! They're so fun to read!**_

 _ **Follow, Fave, review, whatever you want :)**_

 _ **And I guess that's it, see ya'll later! BYEEEEEE!**_

 ** _Oh yeah, and wait, if there's any grammatical errors or something, SORRY I DIDN'T WANNA TAKE LONG IN EDITING SO SORRYYYYY!_**


	11. Chapter 11

Tris watches Four teach Lynn how to toss a knife.

His face is made of our concentration as he demonstrates how to keep a good posture.

She sighs and looks back at everyone who're either punching at bags, firing a gun, or throwing knives like Lynn.

She and Four had basically gone through everyone, teaching the basics. What made her wonder, was how did Four have a huge knowledge consisting weaponry and combat?

Tris hops off of the table she was seated on and heads toward Four.

He glances over at her before she's even arrived.

"I'm gonna leave for the bathroom, think you can handle every thing?"

He nods. "Yeah. Sure."

She quickly heads out and begins walking to her room. She was feeling quite stupid with teaching everyone defense lessons when any moment, another game could be coming up.

But she had to share her knowledge, losing her own teammates would be losing the game, and she couldn't risk it.

She heads toward her room and easily unlocks the door to use the bathroom.

Survival of the Fittest. A game where you compete to survive. Yet, you become loyal to only half of the people participating.

You trust your team. That's the bottom line. It's either trust, or death, because your team is what'll help you win.

She thinks about Uriah. He has a horrible habit of always taking things lightly. For God's sake, there was death waiting right behind a door, and he's not even cautious about opening it.

And there was herself as well, she was no different, in a way she was taking the game lightly as well.

Except she had a reason for it. A reason for not really caring, a reason for not really keeping a distance with her team like she would have if she were in her neighborhood. A reason for suddenly treating everyone like her family and joking around.

The reason was because she didn't have a family anymore.

Her life _before_ being kidnapped sucked. Her parents were gone, her brother moved away with a girl, she became an isolated loner who'd lost all her friends, her personality, and her own self.

So what was left to live for? Nothing. Tris obviously _did_ want to live, who wouldn't? But what was holding her back was she'd rather die for her team rather than her team dying for her, only because their sacrifice would be used in vain. Her team had someone or something that they had at home, she didn't. So what was the point?

And in all honesty, though ashamed to even think about something so grim, Tris _kind_ of enjoyed her little stay. Never, not the games, only her friends that'd she'd made.

And yes, the most important thing of them all was probably Four, because she felt like she had something pleasant to look forward to everyday.

Except one thing stood between them. Trust.

She knew almost _nothing_ about him. His name, his family, his activities. Nothing. All she knew was that he was liked by a lot of girls. But earlier, Lynn basically confirmed that Four was not a really a fan of them.

She imagined that type of bad ass boy who'd never talk to anyone in school, and all the girls swooned over him. But then that one girl who everyone thought was lame suddenly catches the bad ass boy's eyes, and the love starts from there.

Was that the deal with them? Because Uriah and Zeke usually look impressed and a bit surprised whenever she was around Four.

Tris starts washing her hands, letting the water run through her fingers with ease. _Am I just this vulnerable person, who will never be able to live happily again?_

This thought swirls around her mind. Her parents were killed, but would they want her to mope around? Of course not, but no one said it was easy being happy.

She stares at herself in the mirror. All she can see is a frowning face looking back at her. Did she always do that? Was there always a small frown resting on her lips when she was doing nothing?

She finally exits the bathroom and flops onto her bed, exhausted mentally.

She wishes that day of the birthday party went normally, because maybe she'd have actually lived to be a care-free girl who loved her family with all her heart.

But she'd never know. Maybe she was just feeling that way because they were already gone. Once someone or something is taken away from you, you never remember the bad, only the good.

Anyway, when the death occurred, Caleb stayed with her for one more year, taking care of Tris until she finally turned 18, and then he left with Susan, a sweet heart of a girl.

Tris rakes a hand through her hair. All she could remember was that she wanted to die. She wanted to kill herself and never live, because she knew that the reason they died was all her fault. She. Just. Knew. That's when Caleb introduced her to defense. He'd been in army training, but Tris never really took close attention into what happened.

But after Caleb began teaching her how to punch and shoot and fight and all, she was immediately addicted. Because it took all the internal pain away. Dealing with the external pain was easier than dealing with mental emotions that took place when she had nothing to do.

So her interest grew and grew, until Caleb felt confident in moving away.

But just because her defense skills grew, doesn't mean her social skills did. With time, she became the isolated girl, who was deadly and violent when provoked. She was that girl who'd wear a hood and earphones, never paying attention to popularity like she used to before.

But again, the games had randomly popped up into her life, and there was obviously a purpose for it. Something she had to figure out, not for herself, but at least for her team.

 _"That's easy. The moment you began to struggle in life, and everything you'd ever dreamed of shot down-"_

That's what Tori had answered when Tris asked about when they'd started being watched for the games.

She remembered wondering about how that was helpful at all.

But then she realizes, it was.

Her parents were killed,

She backed off of reality, began to live in her own zone,

She became the _outcast._ Easily noticeable by any one,

Her interest in combat and weaponry grew, and her care-free attitude changed into this clever observant one,

And that, is when she was watched. Because at that time, she struggled mentally in life, and all she'd ever dreamed of- shot down.

Tris jumps out of her bed and runs out the door.

 _Where the hell is Tori?_

* * *

"Hey, Tris." Tori greets as she open the door.

"Hi. I had a question."

Tori glances behind her. "Sure."

"Do you have another room we can talk in?" Tris asks with crossed arms.

"Yeah! I don't sleep _here_ you know. Follow me."

Tris rolls her eyes behind Tori's back as she follows her down a few unknown halls. She actually _liked_ her?

After a few minutes of walking, Tris finds herself trying to hold her jaw in its place. They were in a completely unfamiliar hallway. What was so shocking was that the walls were painted blue.

They were in Team A 'territory'.

"Right here. If you ever need me, I'll usually be here in night and early morning hours." Tori answers while unlocking the door.

Tris steps inside, carefully following Tori into a simple room, similar to their own.

Her eyes flicker upward, no cameras. As she scanned the room, she also spotted a picture frame. It was of Tori with a man kissing her cheek while she laughed.

"So, anyway, you had to ask something?" Tori asks while sitting down on her sofa.

Tris crosses her arms again. Yes, she felt like screaming, but she had to be very wise with her words. She couldn't ruin everything, this was like her only life line in a game-show, this woman had the knowledge she needed.

Knowledge about this place, the games, and their personal lives.

Tris bites the inside of her cheek. How could she word this?

"I just thought of a prediction, kinda wanted to run it by you." Tris tells her with a forced smile.

"Oh, that's great! Go ahead."

Tris rocks on the back of her heels. "You said that the moment we were watched was when everything we'd ever dreamed of shot down and we struggled in living?"

"Correct."

"...So, I'm guessing I was watched when my parents..." She didn't have to finish, she didn't _want_ to either.

"Oh, wow, yes, that'd be the answer."

Tris bites the inside of her cheek. She couldn't ask the _real_ question on her mind, she'd have to sugarcoat her way up there.

"Well, we were watched. But when were we _chosen?_ What made us special that through the struggle, we were picked to come here. Because, let's be honest, everyone will eventually struggle through life. Everyone does. So why us?"

Tori nods her head slowly. "Well, take a second to think about it. One thing that's different about you is that your reaction to death was totally unique."

Very helpful. "But _everyone's_ reaction to death is unique. Everyone is different in the world. Fine, I experienced a death or two in my family, okay? So why am I so special? What reaction did I have that's unique? My reaction could be the same as like, 10 million storybook characters."

"Just think-"

Holy. Mother. Of. God.

"-Will you stop acting like you're a fortune-teller telling my future from a fucking crystal ball?! I don't know what's up with these vague answers or riddles and shit, but answer the freaking question. I didn't ask you to fucking _explain_ the answer, I asked _FOR_ the fucking answer." Tris interrupts with impatience and frustration, getting louder by each word.

Tori sighs. "Okay, _you_ specifically have been picked because of your family, and your thought process."

"What the hell is that supposed to be telling me?"

"You asked, ' _FOR_ the fucking answer. Not to fucking explain the answer.' So there you go." She sasses back.

Was she...? Really?

Tris jerks the door open and gives Tori a hard glare. "I know you're working for them, keep that in mind. You're sick for doing this, and a coward for working with them, rot in hell, for all I care."

She makes sure to slam the door so hard, that the hinges rattle in protest.

She was not planning on telling Tori about suspecting her working with the games, but there was no point, she wouldn't get an answer out of her.

There was already some obvious clues. Like, the way Tori knew about her parents. And the way she knew all the answers to their questions.

Tris remembers when she was with Four, questioning Tori, and she kept glancing behind her, answering critical questions with hesitation.

 _They_ were watching Tori. And if she revealed too much...?

Tris honestly didn't even give a crap.

But Tris knew her assumption was right, only by the face that Tori made when she'd called her a coward.

It was a face of surprise, and a little regret. But that 'regret' wouldn't affect Tris.

Tori was out. There was only three other options she could think of left for her to trust and help.

Four.

Uriah.

Or Team A.

* * *

"What the _crap_ is going on!?" Tris gasps as she runs toward a slightly bloody Uriah and a bruised Al.

"I don't even know! He freaking came outta no where, I didn't even bother him!" Uriah hisses while glaring at Al.

Tris frowns. She can see that he's not telling her the whole truth.

"No, Tris, he was being an-"

"That doesn't mean you go punching people when you freaking feel like it, Al." Tris interrupts.

She looks around. "Where is everyone else? Where's Four? He's supposed to be watching you guys."

"He stepped out with everyone, left me in charge with Al to tell you that he was quickly stopping by Zeke's room, and that he'd be back in a couple of minutes." Uriah answers.

Tris doesn't really meant to, but all her frustration from Tori comes out on them:

"So it takes such a short time to beat the fucking shit out of each other? You guys are insane! We're a team, not enemies! There's no time for this crap, okay?! Do you need a reminder of where you freaking are?!" Tris yells while throwing her hands in the air.

Al shakes his head. "I'm sorry. I did it first, I wasn't thinking. I won't do it again, Tris, I promise for you. I'll be in my room."

He leaves before she can comprehend what he'd said.

"I promise for you?" Tris finally asks after a moment of silence.

Uriah grunts as he falls to his knees and mumbles, "It'd make sense if you heard him before, when he punched me."

She wasn't supposed to hear it, but she did.

"What'd he tell you?" Tris asks as she gently looks at Uriah's shoulder. There were just a few cuts, but the fact that they were deep and bleeding meant that their 'talk' was a bit serious.

"Nothing."

Tris snorts and pulls Uriah's sleeve down. "You're gonna tell me, I don't care. What'd he tell you, and why'd he punch you?"

She gets up and runs toward the back where there's a fist aid kit.

When she returns, she begins to take out some cotton balls and alcohol, and before Uriah can explain, Four walks in.

Tris looks back at Uriah's shoulder and winces herself from hearing his hiss as she applies alcohol to the cuts.

"I'm sorry, it'll be over," She whispers. "I'm not that experienced with patching up anyone other than myself."

"Here, I'll do it." Four suddenly says as he materializes by her side and takes a stretchy gauze bandage roll from the kit.

She leans back as he skillfully begins to wrap it on Uriah's shoulder, but she gently rests her hand on Uriah's knee in a motherly manner.

"What'd he say?" Tris repeats.

"He-..." Again, hesitation.

"Will you freaking say it? If you die tomorrow, I'll never know, so say it." Tris says in annoyance.

Uriah lets out a deep breath. "He said to back off. He said he wants you, and I'm getting in the way, so he punched me when I told him to quit acting so oblivious to our situation, and for thinking about 'liking' you. I didn't know how else to tell him to get a life and back off."

Tris feels a shiver run through her body, and she watches as Four's hands stiffen.

"What. The. Fuck?" Tris breathes out after a silent moment.

Uriah shakes his head, "Just try to stay away from him. I'll help you. But if _I_ gotta stay awayfrom _you_? Hell no, sister."

She smiles a bit. "It's fine, I don't know, whatever. Just forget it please, but if anything happens, I'll let you know."

Uriah meets her gaze. "Yeah?"

"Of course, Uri." She says, with a reassuring look.

He smiles, convinced, and Four stiffly finishes wrapping the bandage. A second later, Tris gives Uriah a hug, and then everyone else walks in.

The questions start, Tris walks quietly out with Four closely following behind.

* * *

Tris fiddles with the hem of her shirt, watching Four take a few steps toward the bathroom, then back toward the door. His pacing was infuriating.

"Why do you keep doing that?" She asks.

"Doing what?" He asks a bit roughly.

"Are you mad or something?"

"No."

Tris shakes her head, he wasn't acting like this until a few minutes ago. The only events she can remember he'd be disturbed about is from the training room.

"Can you just forget about it?"

"About _what?_ " Four asks, a bit frustrated.

"About _Al,_ you're making me even more anxious than I already am, and there's gonna be a mini-game in like, about 22 hours."

"I'm not even pacing because of him."

"Really? Either that or the games which is seriously near."

"22 hours. That's almost a day." He answers before finally giving up his pacing and sitting onto his bed again.

Tris shakes her head in irritation. He says it like they were going to a friend's house. Again, she can't stop her hot feelings from earlier, and it comes out.

"Well good-bye to you to then, nice knowing ya, hope I'm on your mind before you take your last breath." Tris hisses in frustration.

A flicker of emotion crosses his face, then a hard and cold stare. "At least I can handle myself well, you did a horrible job of it on your game, might I remind you."

She wasn't expecting that. He notices her distressed look, and though his face softens for a second, he masks it again.

"The important part is that I didn't die and I pressed the fucking button." She says quietly, glaring at the floor.

There's a heated silence before Tris shakes her head and stands, starting to pace.

"Now you've made _me_ start to move." She spits.

Four shakes his head with a narrow of his eyes. "Seriously? What's with the surge of-"

" _Shut. Up_." She states in annoyance, slowly.

He clenches his jaw, being quiet and allowing for her to speak.

She notices and in frustration, rakes a hand through her hair.

"I'm sorry, I'm in a sour mood, I talked to Tori and dealed with her shitty talk, then came back to find Uriah clutching a bloody arm and Al with bruises, I gave them a reminder about where they fucking were, and now there's _this_."

She clenches her jaw and leans against the kitchen counter, her hair falling to shield her face from view. "Not even that, there's the battle in my head. I can't even think right now, I don't why I'm getting worked up over everything, I can't control anything."

She stands straight again and heads toward her bed. "I spoke with Tori, she wouldn't give me a damn straight answer about any question I asked. It was always a riddle. I hate surprises, I just want to _know_ what's going on."

She was babbling, but at least she was getting it out.

Tris glances at Four who speaks. "When'd you see Tori?"

His words are smooth, but rough. She honestly couldn't remember seeing him so grim and monotonous. He was either hitting on her playfully, or quiet. But never cold. Never rough. Never intimidating.

She shakes her head. "I stopped by after the bathroom, figured I'd ask a few stuff, try to get some things cleared out. Obviously, that failed."

"Were you with her in the infirmary?"

Tris shakes her head. "No, you were right. I asked her if she had a different room, and she took me there. There were no cameras so no hesitation. But it was really... weird."

He raises his gaze, finally meeting her eyes. "Weird?"

She shrugs. "Her room was in the halls of Team A."

There's a moment of silence.

"What'd you ask her?"

"You know how we've all been watched? And I asked her when, and she replied, when we began to struggle in life and everything- whatever, get the point?"

He nods.

"So, I think I figured it out... But then I asked her, what made us so special out of everyone, that we were not only watched, but _chosen._ And she told me, because of my family and my thought process."

Tris rolls her eyes. "Whatever, there was a crappy conversation in the midst of that anyway, but then it got me wondering... She knew quite a lot about my family. And she knew quite a lot with the games."

Four shakes his head, figuring it out. "She's working with them?"

"Yeah, and it only confirmed it when she basically didn't deny it, she looked surprised I'd guessed it." Tris tells him.

Four rakes a hand through his hair. "So if Tori won't spill, who will?"

Yes, who will? Tris gets an idea.

She fiddles with the sheets on her bed. "Maybe you and I could figure it out together, kind of sneak out at night and everything."

His eyebrows scrunch together as he thinks over what she's suggested, and Tris takes deep breaths, trying to stay relaxed. She couldn't actually believe that a minute ago, they were biting each other's heads off, but now they were speaking and making a plan.

"Okay."

"What?"

"Okay, I'll do it."

Tris crosses her legs. "I thought I'd have to give you a whole lecture before you'd agree."

He shakes his head with a small curl of his lips.

"Can we change the topic now?" Tris suggests.

They both sit in comfortable silence before Four smiles slightly. "You kinda remind me of my mom sometimes."

She feels her face scrunch in confusion. "In a good way, or bad?"

"Definitely a good way."

"And because...?"

"I can't quite remember but one thing I can tell is that you just have that motherly touch. Like earlier with Uriah, you were mad at him, yet you were worried because of his arm. And that reminded me of my mother because I'd usually be Uriah and my mom would be you."

She's quiet for a few moments before looking back at him. "You never... Speak about her, really."

He frowns. "She's dead. Not much to say."

Tris frowns as well, seeing the troubled look clouded in his eyes.

"Was it recent?"

He glances at her. "No. I was young, that's why I got over it, I don't talk about her much."

 _Should I tell him, should I tell him?_

 _No._

"How'd the name 'Four' happen?" She asks, genuinely curious.

He smiles again. "That, is a story you'd probably like to hear from the Pedrad brothers."

"Uriah and Zeke?"

"Yep."

"I'm assuming it's awfully hilarious then?"

"Everything is funny to them. It wasn't to me, but it's fine, they make everything seem better."

"True." She smiles.

Tris plays with the back of her phone, and feels him watching her.

"Are you hungry?"

Now that she thought about it, she was hungry. "Sorta..."

He smiles, "I used to cook with my mom when I was small. When my dad was gone at work for business trips and we were alone."

Tris tilts her head with a raise of a brow.. "Oh, _really_?"

"Yeah. It was pretty simple, because I was a boy, and I didn't like cooking as much. We'd make chicken, carrots, and-"

"Peas?!" Tris interrupts.

He looks at her weirdly. "Um, yeah."

She looks amused. "My family would cook the exact same thing for a simple dinner."

He chuckles. "Did they usually wear the color grey? And they liked to help others?"

Tris nods. "That's _exactly_ how they were. And did your parents give you haircuts rather than going to the barber or something?"

He smiles slightly. "Yep, usually a trim."

"Is this like a religion we don't know about? Our parents had a pretty similar life style." Tris asks.

Four shrugs. "No clue."

Silence again.

"Oh yeah, you were hungry, right?"

"Yeah...?"

Then she understands what he's gonna ask next.

Tris laughs again. "Sure, but I like chopping the carrots."

They both head toward the kitchen, for once, with genuine smiles on their faces.

Then Four nods slightly. "Now I remember how you remind me of my mom, you act selfless like her too. I'm pretty sure that's both of your parents as well."

Tris snorts as she grabs some carrots from the fridge. "No, I'm absolutely not. You're pretty great though, keep that in mind."

As Tris takes out a knife to chop up the carrots, she can only wonder one thing.

 _Why didn't he mention anything good about his dad?_

* * *

Tris was drawing random circles onto her thigh, waiting for Uriah to reply to her text.

She was just asking if he was fine, and that she was sorry for disappearing out of thin air earlier.

She glances at the closed bathroom door again, hearing the loud water of a shower running.

URIAH- **Don't worry, I'm fine! And it's okay, you were looking a bit agitated at the moment, so it's cool. The question is, are you fine?**

TRIS- **Of course. I was only checking in with you, don't worry about _ME_. So how's Marlene?**

URIAH- **I think she's starting to fall asleep. Her eyes are drooping, think I talked her to death.**

TRIS- **Not a chance, you're very entertaining. I just think she was feeling tired already.**

URIAH- **That's the thing about best friends, they never lie to you.**

TRIS- **Who said I was your best friend? Maybe I _am_ lying.**

URIAH- **!?**

Tris shakes her head with a chuckle.

TRIS- **I'm _kidding._**

URIAH- **I hate you.**

TRIS- **And I love you, see how perfectly this all works out?**

URIAH- **Fine, love ya too. (-_-)**

Tris smiles and sets her phone down. She leans back and glances at the time. It was around 11 p.m.

As she closes her eyes momentarily, she slowly drifts into a day dream- Where she's imagining herself at Starbucks just buying a regular mocha coffee from those mini fridges. She can still taste the sweet flavor in her mouth, remembering the way she'd open the door and walk out into the early morning with her hair whipping to the side from the wind, and the way the sun set a certain warmth to her face.

Then, she was back in the dull room, hearing the water turn off, and the shower door sliding open.

Tris frowns, she never really took note of the fact that there were no windows or sunlight. The only way of telling the time was from their phones, and who knows, maybe those were wrong as well.

She glances around the room. There were only plain walls, painted black to signify Group B.

Tris thinks about Tori again. She clearly had information that she was absolutely not willing to give, and Four only knew as much as Tris did, so who was there to ask?

Four fills up a glass of water after walking out of the bathroom fully dressed.

"Whatcha thinking about?" He asks as he sits down on his bed and begins taking about 3 gulps of water before setting the empty glass down.

Tris shrugs with a sigh. "Nothing, just wondering about unanswered questions."

Four frowns at her. "Tori is out of the question?"

"Damn straight."

He grabs his glass and sets it on the counter, then sits in front of Tris. Tris studies his dark looking hair because it was not fully dry. She wishes sometimes that she could be sitting at the library or at Starbucks like she usually was, and talking to Four like they had normal lives, no death to worry about.

"I don't know what to do." Tris admits with a hint of sudden hopelessness on her face.

Four crosses his legs. "Hey, don't be like that, we'll figure it out. We just have to go step by step."

"But-" She stops herself from talking. "Okay, fine."

"So let's get organized. Basically, you're saying that Tori is working for _them,_ whoever they may be. And proof for that is the way she has much knowledge about everyone, and she already knows about the cameras. She's cautious on what she says when she's around them, but refuses to give helpful information when alone?"

Tris nods slowly. "Yeah, she's immature and sassy as f-"

She bites the inside of her cheek, watching Four stare at her with his dark blue eyes and a raise of his eyebrows. "Fine, go on."

"So now she's out of the picture. I'm thinking we have 3 choices left, wanna hear them?"

Tris crosses her legs as well and nods after a moment. Might as well, she didn't have any good ideas herself.

"For one, you know how Tori is the one who'll patch us up after every game? There's _gotta_ be someone like that on Group A's side as well. Like, I suppose an attendant." He tells her.

Tris feels the gears in her mind shift to work. "That's a good point. Peter had been healed like myself as well. But Tori's separate room is located in Group A's halls... So maybe that means Group A's attendant is located... Somewhere here?"

Four nods. "Yeah, so that's one option. The next option is that we can go and speak with Group A themselves"

"What do you mean?" Tris asks. "That's a pretty bad, one, because there's asses like Peter, and two, _cheating with the opposite team results in immediate disqualification._ How'll we break that rule without anyone knowing?"

Four nods. "There's cameras, right? So we'd be fine, we just have to stay hidden away from them. As long as we're not spotted in the cameras, we're good, they've got no proof."

Tris rakes a hand through her hair. "Okay, but who'd there be to trust?"

"I was thinking that maybe after one of the games, we could study some of the people, learn who looks promising."

Tris nods. "Okay." She shrugs. "Honestly, right now, I'm up for the first option. But you said there were three?"

He rubs at his face. "Yeah, the last option is what you suggested earlier with me working with you. We could just go solo, sneak around into Team A's halls, and try to find hidden information."

Tris considers all the options that had been shared with her. She was pretty impressed, all plans were very promising, all the plans, seemed that they'd work.

After several minutes of vigorous thinking, she shakes her head. "You pick. I've no clue which one."

Four lets out a breath, appearing to be thinking each option over very carefully.

Finally, he speaks.

"I guess we'll go for finding Team A's attendant first."

"Sounds like a plan." Tris answers with a nod.

* * *

 ** _A/N- Holy shizzz, 5,300+ words, what hapened?!_**

 ** _GAH! My school has started! And... I really hate my schedule, it's like, I don't have any of my good friends, I feel like such a loner/third-wheel._**

 ** _Luckily there are things called, 'schedule change.'_**

 ** _If I wrote any mistakes, I'M SO SORRY! I wanted to get a chapter out, I've been pretty busy._**

 ** _Review, Follow, Fave, whatever you want!_**

 ** _THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR ENCOURAGING REVIEWS OR_ PMs _*winky face* BECAUSE THEY'RE WHAT KEEP ME WRITING!_**

 ** _GGGAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! LOVE YOU!_**

 ** _Kk, I think that's it, BYE!_**


	12. Chapter 12

Tris yawns quickly, trying to make no noise, as Four turns his back to her.

It was 11:30 p.m. now, and she'd literally kill herself 10 times if Four caught her feeling sleepy.

She'd already done the mistake of letting her eyes close for a few minutes to rest the heavy lids, and allowing Four to think that maybe they should try tomorrow.

 _"Tris, Tris!" He'd called while shaking her._

 _Her eyes had flown open and she'd bit the inside of her cheek, hoping her voice wasn't raspy. "What? I was closing my eyes."_

 _He'd narrowed his gaze at her. "If you're tired, It's not a big problem, you can rest and-"_

 _"I already took a nap, I've got an extra hour or so of energy left. That's more than you."_

 _He'd frowned, "Sure, whatever you say."_

By the time Four turned around again and looked at her, Tris was acting like the hand near her mouth was just used to itch above her upper lip.

"Don't you think we should leave now?" She asks while standing up from her bed and grabbing her phone.

"Just a few more minutes, we have to make sure everyone is asleep." He answers while moving to sit on the sofa with a glass of water in his hand.

Tris unlocks her phone and aimlessly swipes at the screen, just to give herself something to be busy with.

She was wearing black leggings, and a black hoodie that belonged to Four. It was big on her, but Four had told her that they'd need to blend in the dark and shadows to keep away from cameras or people who might still be awake.

Like every romance book and movie, the girl would love the smell of the boy's clothes.

An expectation vs. reality situation.

Four had never worn the hoodie, the fact that it'd smell like a regular store-bought detergent was way more likely than Tris selling some type of _oh-so-eye-drooping_ scent of cologne and warmth.

Tris begins to hum softly as Four places his empty glass back into the sink.

It takes a few moments for her to realize that she was humming the chorus of _Glad You Came,_ one of the karaoke songs at the birthday party she'd last heard before 'the' phone call.

She immediately stops and bites the inside of her cheek. "Can we go now?"

Four sighs. "One more minute, Princess. It's 11:44."

"What's the difference? 11:45 is literally 60 seconds more."

He walks over to his own bed and grabs his phone. "When I was 20, I worked in a security job with Zeke. We were assigned the control room which is basically where you control the cameras and codes."

She hears his sentence, but for some reason gets stuck on the beginning of it.

"You were 20 then, how old are you now?"

He looks pretty surprised she's asking, considering the topic he was talking about a few seconds ago was cameras.

"21..." He says, drawing out the confusion he feels.

"I'm 19, two years younger than you." She informs while pursing her lips nervously.

A small smile crosses his face, hearing her uncertainty. "Yes, that whopping two-year gap really is _insurmountable_ , isn't it?"

Tris frowns, a bit upset with herself for a poor choice of words. "I'm not trying to be self-deprecating, I just don't... get it..."

She trails off, confused. What was she saying?

His smile is small as he stares at her through eyes she cannot read. A blush fills her own cheeks, but he chooses to save her from her troubled thoughts.

"-Anyway, their system was really weird, you'd have to switch each camera you were watching through every 5 minutes or so. It was really stupid, seeing as a robber would need at least 15 seconds to run across an entire area, but that's how it was for their specific camera."

He glances at his phone, then back at her again. "Zeke and I notified our boss and told him about the cameras. He wouldn't even try to fix it, so we decided that we would. At night when everyone left Zeke disabled a camera and I began take it apart to fix the installed timings."

"Did you ever get it to work the way you wanted to? Manually switch from camera to camera?" She asks.

He rolls his eyes. "We were fired the moment he found out what we'd done."

"Really? That's stupid. Maybe you should've demonstrated how your theory worked." Tris tells him.

Four shakes his head. "He was a stubborn person, that's for sure. Didn't want to see anything."

Tris nods. "So what's the cameras gotta do with now?"

A corner of his mouth curls. "So impatient, I see."

Tris feels her cheeks warm again, but Four wasn't looking at her anymore.

"Basically, the point was that when I found out about the cameras here, they looked familiar to me."

Tris is silent so he continues, "They ended up looking like the exact cameras I'd worked with about a year ago. So to be on the safe side, if they were automatically timed, 11:45 p.m. rather than 11:44 p.m. would be when the cameras would switch."

Tris frowns. She'd never thought in so much depth. If it was herself having to go Team A's attendant, she'd have gotten caught ages ago if it weren't for Four.

"Speaking of which, it's 11:45 p.m. right now." He says while getting up and slipping his phone into the right pocket of his track pants.

She goes to open the door when he stops her quickly.

"Wait, take off your shoes."

Tris looks down at her feet, puzzled. "What?"

"I mean... whatever they are."

A smirk comes across her face. "Gladiator sandals." She teases. " _Everyone_ knows about them, even Uriah."

She laughs quietly at his clueless face, having no notion of what she's even talking about.

After a moment he torpidly tosses her some black socks, and she catches them a bit confused.

"What are these for?"

"So we're quiet."

He slowly opens the door and slips his key into his pocket, same one as his phone.

Tris leans against the door frame as she slips them on. "Why do we need to be quiet?"

He gestures toward the halls. "If everyone is sleeping, and someone still happens to be awake, it'd be easy to hear. Which is why if we use our socks it'll make the possibility of someone hearing us slim."

"Do you know where we're supposed to go?"

He shrugs, smirking. "Thought you'd know."

Tris chuckles breathlessly and stands straight. "Okay, we'll find our way there then."

She exits the door first, feet sliding across the hard and cold floor.

"Where shall we go?" Four asks while slowly closing the door.

Tris glances around the halls. For one thing, it'd definitely be somewhere hidden where Group B wouldn't be able to see. In that case, no where near the cafeteria or the training room.

Tris turns her body the opposite direction of the cafeteria.

"Somewhere there, let's start walking." She says while gesturing forward.

Four begins to follow her as she drags her feet across the floor, secretly enjoying the feeling of sliding across like she used to when she was small.

Nevertheless, she could still hear the little thuds of her feet hitting the floor from time to time, though Four made no sound.

"How are you doing that?" Tris finally asks while stopping.

Four stops as well, preventing himself from running into her. "Do what?"

"How are you walking so silently? I thought you said with socks we'd be quiet. That I'd be quiet."

"But you _are_ quiet."

"Quiet, but not walking like a freaking fox sneaking up to its prey."

Four hides his smile behind his hand. "Oh, that."

He's silent for a second before whispering again, like he's telling her a huge secret. Then again, maybe it was. "It's easy, just walk toe to heel, toe to heel"

He takes a step forward, first landing with the tip of his foot, then slowly bringing it down to his heel to demonstrate.

"Just keep doing that and you'll be fine."

Tris frowns but starts walking again like he'd told her to. Miraculously, it works.

They finally reach a two way turn, and Four quickly grabs a hold of her wrist to stop her.

She ignores the tingly feeling and tries to look at his face, though it's too dark to even tell.

"We should probably go right." He whispers.

Tris shakes her head, not knowing if he can see. "I was going to go left."

"But right is always right."

"Yeah, and this place is evil, so let's go left." She says before tugging her hand out of his grasp.

She hears him let out a breath before starting to follow her again, not far behind at all.

"Where are the cameras?" Tris asks quietly as she trails her fingers along the damp walls of the hall.

She thinks Four shrugs. " I don't think they're here, probably because no one would really come here, and it's too dark."

Tris nods and begins walking again, hoping her vision would adapt to the dark soon enough. It'd come to a point where she was blindly dragging one foot in front of the other.

She stops and feels Four brush against her back. "Can you start leading? I feel like I'll smack into something any second now."

He grazes past her before gently grabbing her hand and leading it to his hood. "Just hold on to it so you can keep pace, I kinda walk fast."

She tries to stifle a shudder that goes through her body, until he lets go and she feels a soft tug in her hand.

Tris starts to follow, but her mind drifts elsewhere.

 _"What in the world are you reading?" I ask while hanging upside down from my bed._

 _Caleb glances at me from his book, smiling at my genuinely curious face. Probably because for once, I really_ was _curious about his BOOKS of all things._

 _"Adult stuff that you'd be bored about."_

 _I immediately glare at him while flopping back onto my stomach. "I'm not a kid, I can understand this stuff."_

 _"Bea, I'm just reading boring facts about the military."_

 _I hold my head high, determined to prove him wrong. "That's... Very interesting, tell me about it."_

 _He rolls his eyes and gestures for me to sit beside him._

 _I walk over and climb onto his bed, peering at the book he's holding with no pictures._

 _"Okay, read something from it." I tell him._

 _He looks at the book again._ _"The US military has a secret, nearly silent type of Velcro, which reduces the ripping noise by over 95%."_

 _Surprisingly, I sit straight and look at Caleb, eyes wide. "Whoa, seriously?"_

 _"Well, yeah, it says so here."_

 _"So why do they wear Velcro? I thought they wore those... Combat boots or something."_

 _He glances back at the book. "It doesn't have to be for shoes, there's backpacks and little things like that."_

 _"Read another one."_

 _"Wow Bea, what's up with you?" He chuckles._

 _I wouldn't blame him for his weirded out reaction, I can't remember ever being so thirsty for information about AMERICA of all things._

 _I hated Social Studies. But for some reason this was way different than learning about cave men and slaves and Native Americans and colonies._

 _"These are cool, I wanna know more." I finally answer, watching the smile never leave his face. He was actually feeling proud of me._

 _"Okay, let me find another-"_

"Ow!" Tris gasps as she smacks into Four's back.

"Sorry! Shh, look." He whispers.

Tris peers past his shoulder and sees a door painted blue, easily standing out from the rest of the black halls.

"You found it!" She exclaims with a whisper.

"No, you did. But there's someone else in there, listen."

Tris closes her eyes and clears her mind from any previous thoughts. Then she hears a muffled giggle.

They both press their backs against the wall, hiding behind the corner of where the door is.

They hear the door open, a light fills the halls, and two shadows step out. One female and one male.

Tris brushes past Four and silently looks around the corner where the two figures are impossibly close to each other.

She flings herself back.

"What happened?" Four asks, worried.

"They're... Uh... displaying affection.." She answers under her breath.

She was a sucker when it came to PDA, call her modest or chicken, whatever, but she just felt uncomfortable whenever witnessing it.

Tris winces as she hears a sigh and a light growl. Involuntarily, she backs up and bumps into Four.

"Tell me when it's over." She whispers while shutting her eyes tightly and covering her ears.

Coincidentally, she can feel the light breaths of his brush against the back of her neck. She clenches her jaw as a pleasant shiver runs through her.

What was she _doing?_

A small step forward. Enough for him to not notice.

Almost 3 minutes pass.

He pulls her hands away from her ears. "The girl is leaving, looks like the attendant is a guy."

He doesn't let go of her wrist as he pulls her toward the now closed door.

"What're we supposed to do, knock?" She asks, trying to ignore the fact that he's still holding onto her.

"Well, yeah."

Tris, summoning effort, pulls her hand from his and curls it into a fist to knock.

"Wait, I'll do it!" He interrupts but Tris shakes her head.

"He'll feel more confident if I knock, no offense but you're intimidating to others."

He sighs.

"Wait, should I act intimidating or nice?"

"Definitely intimidating."

Tris frowns. "Okay... How about I be nice? But if all else fails, intimidating."

Her knuckles rap against the door three times before she takes a step back.

The door opens after a few moments. "Back so qui- Oh, who are you? You're not Myra"

Tris glances at the boy in front of her with brown tousled hair and light eyes. He _had_ to be a year older than her, that's it. She was shocked from how young he was, no where near the age of Tori.

Damn, Group A had it good. For a second she wishes he was replaced with Tori, only so that they'd have a better attendant that could _relate_ more to them with age, not give _advice_.

She glances back at Four who's suddenly giving a cold glare.

Nice first. Intimidation LATER.

She turns to face the boy again, but moves her foot back and gives Four a hard kick.

"I'm Tris. And that's Four." She answers while gesturing behind her. "Can we come inside?"

The boy looks at them in confusion before stepping aside. Tris smiles, trying to put as much warmth and softness into it as she can muster before walking in. He had to think they were good, not bad.

It was only when they were both inside, and he'd closed the door, that his eyes widened with realization.

"You're wearing _black?._ " He asks aloud.

Tris shifts. "Yes, we needed your help."

His eyes narrow. "Me? And are you crazy?! Haven't you read the rules? Immediate disqualification."

"There's no cameras here, how would they know?" Four speaks up, his voice challenging, daring him to suggest that he'll tell on them.

He doesn't.

Tris sneakily looks at Four, giving him a narrowed gaze saying, 'shut the fuck up and let me talk '

"What's your name?" Tris asks.

"Edward." He finally answers. "Why are you here?"

"We just need to ask a few questions and we'll be out of here." She tells him, noticing his accusing look.

He frowns, but gestures toward the sofa. "Take a seat."

She quickly heads over and sits down, with Four deciding he'd rather lean against the arm rest next to her.

"I imagine you're wondering why the hell your enemies are sitting in the same room with you seeking for your help. The simple answer is because our own attendant won't spill." Tris says, stopping Edward from saying anything.

He tilts his head, then nods for her to go on, confused.

"Firstly, are you going to keep this... _interaction_ , a secret?"

Edward leans against the wall, studying Tris and Four stiffly, until his eyes narrow.

"Never."

The sunshiny personality has now been thrown right out of the window. And the intimidation has begun.

Four meets Tris's eyes, silently asking if he can talk, but she lets out a breath and very slowly shakes her head.

 _Now what, genius?! You're said to have been smart and clever, where is it now?_

Tris shifts, casually leaning back against the cushions and crossing her legs lazily.

She had an idea.

It was absolutely sickening.

Four raises his eyebrows, noticing her nervous expression.

She quickly masks it before Edward notices.

"Fine. What a shame for that girl... Myra, she was pretty nice. She's in Group A, so taking away a life from the _enemy_ wouldn't hurt."

Try saying that in your normal life.

Like lightning, his eyes widen, then turns into a pressuring stare. "Don't you dare lay a hand on her or I'll fucking m-"

The love and pain and rage was so overwhelming, that for a split second, Tris wishes she could be loved like that.

"As if I can't take someone like you." Tris flares back. "You don't know what I'm capable of. But surely you, of everyone, would know that whatever we can do has absolute skill... And great violence. Unless you have no clue where we are?"

He is silent as she speaks.

She hated acting cocky. Her 'skills' were probably no better than him.

Then, with a deadly quiet voice, "A few questions. No ratting us out."

Pause.

"And if you do... You'll never love again."

Her hands were shaking behind her back from saying a threat as horrific and murderous as that. Maybe she really was a killer with a cold heart, speaking of taking a life away like a flick of the wrist. But she couldn't imagine actually _doing_ it. Killing the innocent was horrible.

... But _was_ he innocent?

He actually looks a bit fearful. "Okay, ask the questions."

"Will. You. Rat. Us. Out?"

"No." Without hesitation.

She leans back, suddenly blank. What was she doing? Why was she doing this? How did she get here? Was he scared of her? Did she look like she was going to kill him?

"Why are we here? Of all people, why are we, specifically here?" Four ends up asking with a bitter tone.

Tris tries to slow down her breathing from that stupid panic attack as Edward struggles to answer, hesitating.

"We don't have all day." Four breaks the momentary silence. "Answer."

Edward shakes his head. "A majority of you have special reactions to everyday activities that no average human would have."

He says this, voice cracking, like Four is holding a gun to hi head and threatening to pull the trigger.

"So you're saying we're not normal, we're inhuman." Tris states, trying to get him to elaborate.

"No. I didn't say that. Okay, here, hold on."

Edward shakily grabs two pieces of paper and two pens. He walks over and hands one of each to Tris, then Four.

"There is a huge, crazy, wild dog on the loose. You've been given two things that'll help you. Either a generous chunk of cheese, or a knife. What will you do to keep it from harming you?"

Four and Tris quickly glance at each other, sharing a look, before slowly picking up their pens and scribbling down their answers.

"Done?"

They both hand it to Edward, and he opens Four's first.

 ** _Lure him in with the cheese and kill him with the knife_**

"I never said you could pick two."

"And you never said I couldn't. You asked me for my response, that's exactly what I'd do." Four answers, crossing his arms and leaning against the arm rest again.

Tris wrinkles her nose.

"What's up? Wrote something else?" Edward asks.

She nods, too fast.

He slowly flips the paper.

 _ **Become friendly with the dog. Make it smell my hand. Make sure not to anger it.**_

"That wasn't any of the choices."

Tris shakes her head. "I know," she says, defending herself. "But why? Why do we need only those two things? What'll cheese do alone? The 'crazy' dog'll eat it and then what? And the knife wouldn't help either when it can run faster than you and possibly bite you."

She shrugs her shoulders. "But Four had a good point too, luring the dog in and catching it off guard."

Edward nods, face no longer fearful but calculating. "So you're the rebelling stubborn one-"

She opens her mouth.

" _And_ the selfless one. You don't even want to inflict pain on the animal _."_

 _"_ It's not like I can't, it's just how I'd react then. But I'd cause... violence if needed. _"_

"Now you're making me look like a horrible man, killing animals and all." Four tells her quietly with a small smile.

She smiles back quickly, but then it dissolves as she turns to Edward again who has his back turned, fiddling with his desk.

"Well, why'd we just do this?'

"Because he was showing our unique reactions to a stimulus or whatever?" Four guesses smoothly.

"Right on." Edward nods turning back round to glance at them. "See, the average person would've have picked either A, or B. You guys have picked, 'other' even though it was not even listed."

"Seriously?" Tris huffs. "That's why we've been kidnapped here? Most stupidest reason! I would've thought of what I did if I was seven!"

A shake of a head. "Just one very _basic_ reason to help you get an idea. There are more. But you need to leave now, it's almost 1 am. There's a game tomorrow, I'm not sorry if Group A wins and you lose. But this does _NOT_ make us friends, don't risk coming here again."

Tris stands up, and something in her forces her mouth shut from any rude comebacks. Four follows close behind, but she stops suddenly and glances back at Edward who looks preoccupied with something.

After realizing she's still standing, all he does is raise his eyebrows, and then she turns and walks the rest of the way out the door with Four slowly shutting it closed.

She was feeling drowsy... And very, very, very tired all of a sudden.

The bed sounded great.

* * *

 _BANG!_

 _I shriek as this sound booms through my ears, and I shoot off the sofa I was resting on._

 _Mom comes in, looking frantic. "What happened, Beatrice?"_

 _I take shaky breaths. "I heard something!"_

 _The tears come, and she gathers her arms around me._

 _But this does not feel safe and warm, this does not feel like my mother._

 _"Hush little baby,_

 _Don't say a word._

 _And never mind_

 _That noise you heard._

 _It's an imaginary beast_

 _You dream of under your bed._

 _The one in your closet_

 _The one in your head."_

 _I pull away, horrified, and then a blue car slams through the glass and blood is everywhere._

 _My mother's head rolls and smacks my neck._

 _And a sound pierces through the night._

 _My screams._

Tris whimpers as she slowly sits up, neck aching, shirt drenched with sweat.

Her vision refocuses to reveal that she'd been sleeping in a uncomfortable position on the sofa.

 _When did I get here?_ She wonders, panicked.

She winces as she moves her hand up to hold her aching neck, and she inhales a sharp breath.

Something hard. There was something hard and circular on the back of her neck.

In 5 seconds, it hits her.

Edward fiddling with his desk. Looking preoccupied. Feeling drowsy.

When... _How_ did he do it without her noticing?

She feels the lump in her throat. Do. Not. Cry.

 _I'm such a fucking idiot, why did I trust him? How could I possibly have been so stupid to ask for help with the opposite group?_

He had somehow gotten the small object on the back of her neck, and like a sleeping drug, she began to feel tired. It had knocked her out.

But... What about her dream? What was that about?

Why did her mom have to die? And in all worst possibilities, a freaking car?

She couldn't help it, she really did feel like crying. Was this supposed to be life saying that she could never forget, even for a day, about how her parents were killed from a car? Was she never going to be able to forget for just a moment that the car accident was her own fault in the first place?

Tris reaches for her phone and glances at the time. 7:10 a.m.

6 hours of sleep... Or being knocked out.

She looks at the screen and feels a shudder pass her body.

 _ **Time Until Next Mini Game: 4:13:22**_

She looks at Four, suddenly wondering if he'd gotten knocked out as well.

Four was still lying down, blanket resting on his chest, one hand resting on his stomach while the other was near his head.

She watches him, and for a split moment she gets this feeling of wanting his arms around her, comforting, scaring the nightmare and memory away.

She still couldn't figure out what the horrifying dream meant.

Why. Did. It. Have. To. Be. Her?

Tris unlocks her phone and for some reason opens her notes. Trembling with fear, she writes the whole poem that she'd heard, making sure to include word for word, letter for letter.

Maybe Edward had gotten the circular object onto her neck the moment she'd stayed just for a few seconds more. That was probably all the time he'd needed.

Tris forces herself to stand and walks over to Four, placing one hand under his neck gently.

His skin was so soft and warm, she wishes...

... She hadn't felt the certain round object on the back of his neck too.

"Four! Four! Wake up, please!" She gasps while shaking him.

It was her fault. God knows what they were drugged with. It could be more than just a sleeping drug. Maybe it's a device, or something Edward can access? Or maybe they've been given a serum even worse?

"W-What?" He suddenly groans sleepily with a yawn.

Tris jerks back. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know that when we went- at all- that-"

"Tris, what? Slow down. What happened?" He asks, tiredly getting up.

She tries to regain from her shaken composure, but can't muster the strength to drive the hopelessness, anger and fear away.

His face of concern sends her over the edge.

Her dream, the unknown object, the risks, all her fault.

"N-nothing."

But the tears are slipping down her face.

"Hey, Tris, what's wrong?" He asks while getting up, blocking her from moving away.

"It was just a freaking nightmare, nothing, it was stupid." She says, trying to find a way past him.

"No, nightmares are not _nothing_. What was it about? Why are you crying?"

She shakes her head, hair falling in front of her face as a shield to stop him from seeing her stupid tears.

"I don't want to talk about it." _I'll never ever ever want to talk about it. Ever._

Surprising her completely, as she finally gets past him, he catches her in an embrace. Too tired and defeated, she slumps spiritlessly against him.

Four was practically holding her up, one arm around the waist, the other near her head.

"I'm sorry, if I'd known- if I'd thought with common sense and- I- It's my fault because- device and-"

"Tris, shh. Slow down. One sentence at a time."

Her breathing is hard as she buries herself into the crook of his neck, but he doesn't say anything, nor does he push her away.

"Edward. He's drugged us. On the back of our necks there's something there. Maybe there's more than just the sleeping purpose, but I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention."

He pulls back and slowly turn her around. She takes a shaky breath as he pushes her hair from her neck to one side, and runs his fingers over it.

"Hold on." There's a click and suddenly it's in his hand, in front of her. "See? No need to panic, we could take it off."

He does the same with his own, then holds both in one hand. "We'll take a closer look at these later, okay? It's not your fault, if anything, I should've noticed, I was right behind you."

She stays quiet, staring at the two round objects blankly. "He promised. He promised he wouldn't rat us out."

Four slips his arms around her. "Edward didn't rat us out, he probably just got scared and drugged us. But we're fine now, you and me both."

His arms tighten around her, and she lies her head against his shoulder.

1 minute.

She feels safe, with his heart pounding against hers.

2 minutes.

The tears are starting to subside, and she feels him rest his chin on her head.

3 minutes.

She takes a final shuddering breath-

And pulls away.

"The next mini game is in four hours..." She blows air from her puffed up cheeks and looks him in the eyes.

"Okay."

"Aren't you scared?" She whispers.

His smile is small. "No, right now I'm just worried about you."

She roughly wipes at her damp cheeks, drying them. "I'm not crying anymore. I was just overwhelmed."

She didn't mean for it to sound like she was snapping at him, but it did.

"I wasn't making fun of you," He says faintly. "But I'm glad you're okay."

She turns around, avoiding the concern in his eyes. "Yeah, I'm okay."

"Do you... Wanna talk about what's going on in that unique mind of yours?"

She shakes her head and crawls onto his bed, already feeling the warmth from earlier.

"Your bed is right there, Missy." He laughs, gesturing ahead.

She leans against his headboard, letting her eyes fall closed. "And?"

He sighs and she senses him moving toward her, but at the last minute he changes his mind and heads toward the fridge.

Tris opens her eyes half-way.

"Four?" She whispers.

"Hmm?"

"Do you... Do you think we'll win today?"

Four looks back at her with a tender, yet heart-rending stare. "Anything can happen."

She frowns.

"...But let's hope we do win." He adds, seeing her uneasy expression.

She watches as he pulls out a water bottle, and two fresh apples from the fridge.

"Four?"

He heads back to her again, handing her an apple after washing it at the sink.

She grabs it, staring at its fiery ruby red color, the same intense color as blood, the same violent color as the button.

"Yeah, princess?"

"What do you think happens if we... If we lose?"

There's silence. Up until now, that was a question that never really was answered properly. Tris is surprised she'd never even considered it.

His expression becomes hard and dark. "I... I have no clue. But I'm betting my life it's not good."

Tris feels her eyes narrow at him, clearly noticing the way he's trying to put the words easy for her. Again, she hated the vulnerability, and how you could be treated like a kid who doesn't understand English if you show any fragility.

She runs her finger over the apple, watching the droplets of water combine with each other and roll off the fruit.

"The game is called Survival of the Fittest."

Four looks at her, with a raised brow, and Tris can practically feel the dryness in her voice.

"They won't stop until a team has dominated the game. Until each member from the losing team is gone... or dead."

He exhales. "Didn't want to put it like that."

"Yeah, well life is always gonna be a bitch, so accept it." She can recall the time she'd told him this sentence like it was just yesterday.

Her tiny smile is a bit of mixed amusement and glum.

He smiles back the same way.

* * *

 _ **A/N- Just wanted to take the time to thank all of you who're still here, reading this story. The views are slowly dropping, and I know I write shitty stuff sometimes, but as discouraging it can be, it just helps me know who TRULY loves the story, so just for you, Thank you so much, I love you so Goddamn much and I don't care if that's creepy to you because you're all lovely and so so so unbelievably amazing to me. Thank you for all your lovely reviews and support, it helps me write every chapter.**_

 _ **Anyhow, hope you enjoyed the chapter guys, and thanks for being patient, school makes life harder, we all can relate.**_

 _ **Review, follow, fave, whatever ya want.**_

 _ **Sorry for any typos!**_

 _ **See ya'll later, remember: I LOVE YOU EVEN GREATER THAN THE MOON AND BACK, OKAY!?**_

 _ **And wow, your wonderful support pays off, did I just write 5,700+ words? You're all incredible. MWAH! KISSES PPL!**_


	13. Chapter 13

_**A/N- Thought I'd put this out there in the beginning, anyone see the teaser trailer for Allegiant? Holy shit, I can't explain the feels I got. I wanted to reach through the screen and strangle David. And they ALL looked SO FREAKING HOT IN THEIR BLACK SUITS WHEN 'CROSSING'! I NEED MORE!**_

 _ **Sorry, anyway, if you saw it, drop a review and lemme know! BACK TO UR CHAPTER!**_

* * *

Tris lets out a peaceful breath as the nice warm water of the shower drips over her body, soothing her muscles and slowly bringing laziness back again.

If she could, she'd fall asleep right in the bathtub, water serving as her blanket.

She hears a vibration from the sink, and slowly slides the shower door open, making sure to wipe her hands on the hanging towel before looking at the text.

FOUR- **I'm heading over to Zeke's, you'll be fine?**

Tris glances at the door of the bathroom, rolling her eyes.

TRIS- **We're a freaking door apart.**

"Sorry! Okay, I'm gonna leave now!" He makes a point to yell.

Tris frowns, deciding to step out of the shower anyway as soon as she hears the soft thud indicating he'd left, and she makes sure to grab her phone.

She wraps one of the black towels around her body and steps out of the bathroom, realizing that she was _actually_ alone. She tosses her phone onto the bed, it was on the edge but miraculously balanced itself, having no plans on falling.

Tris wipes the extra droplets of water from her face, fastening her towel and walking toward the fridge when her foot makes contact with something hard and she trips. She catches her fall with her elbows and lets out a huge string of curses.

The pain shoots through her arms, however with her ankle there's a feeling of warmth all over again, but this time it's different.

"Fuck!" She hisses as her eyes register the huge cut and blood gushing.

She grabs the apple core that'd made her fall and throws it into the trashcan.

This was absurd. Here she was trying to enjoy being a girl without Four, being able to walk half-naked like she was in her own room, when she trips over a wait- not a banana peel- apple core, and cuts herself deeply.

Yes, so very absurd that despite the possibility of bleeding to death, she laughs.

For God's sake she was lying naked with only a towel wrapped around her, close to slipping off her body as well.

Tris pulls herself up, using the wall for support, and hops on one foot toward the cabinet. After each hop, her towel slips further and further until she is hopping, officially naked.

She could only hope that Four didn't walk in, she'd never be able to live it down, she'd never be able to-

A bang.

She shrieks and tries to cover herself when she realizes that no one was near the door, her phone had only slipped from the bed she'd thrown it on. Looks like it _was_ bound to fall.

She lets out a breath and like a mad woman, not wanting to take anymore chances, immediately grabs the first aid kit. She almost lets out a strangled scream through her clenched teeth when wiping alcohol onto it, then she wraps her ankle with the bandage roll, copying the style Four had done it to Uriah.

Lightly testing her left foot, she winces as a dull pain shoots through her entire leg.

Tris limps toward her closet and slips on a sports bra.

Black dots swim in her vision as she finally pulls her underwear on, forcing her injured leg to ache deeply.

No, she couldn't wear her pants, she'd faint right there and if Four came back he'd see her.

 _What the hell am I supposed to do now?!_

Getting an idea, Tris slowly limps to Four's closet and grabs the smallest looking black shirt she could find. Except when slipping it on it looked like a dress stopping right below her thighs.

Man. if only she'd had a belt, she could start a freaking trend.

She thinks of all the hashtags that she could start, and how she could become famous for something so freaking stupid.

#ManDress? #BoyfriendTwinsies? #WtfTrend?

Tris glances down at her legs, finally smooth from all the scratches she'd received in the past few days, except her injured foot.

She hops toward the fridge and makes herself an ice pack, then slowly eases herself onto her own bed, making sure to scoop up her phone.

A sense of cool relief spreads through her ankle as she places her homemade ice pack onto it.

Leaning her head back, she lets out a breath.

And this is what changes everything- she suddenly remembers that she is _alone._ And being alone meant aimless wandering of the mind.

Just like that, she was feeling irritated all over again. Because she couldn't enjoy a moment of her life without something ruining it. In this case, first, her leg. And now it was her past.

She fiddles with the hem of the shirt. It was a scary thing to think... But... What if... She could stop her depression?

What if she could stop _everything_ from becoming any more worse than it already was?

... By ending her life.

It was pretty simple. Like the ending of a long and painful story for an author. All an author had to do was write, 'Tris couldn't take it anymore. She was done. Taking the knife, she aimed it at her heart and...'

 _But is it really that easy?_ Tris asks herself.

She glances at her leg. Maybe she didn't want to die. If she _did_ she would've taken advantage of her leg injury. She could have hurt herself more. But then again, how would a leg kill you? The only thing that would happen is an infection, and then amputation, which was worse than suicide.

Her stomach growls, adding to her misery.

"Are you kidding me?" Tris groans loudly. "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"

She needed to get food out of the fridge, and now she was too comfortable to get something. It was like that feeling when you grab popcorn and blankets and cuddle, but then you forget the remote across the whole room for your movie.

Maybe she could starve to death?

Tris shakes the thoughts away.

She lets out a breath, the one you might do if you were about to cry and strangle someone.

She closes her eyes and lies her down on the pillow. "Whatever. Fuck it."

* * *

 _"Bea, can you please stop blaming yourself, please!?"_

 _I shake my head. "I'm not 'blaming myself'. I KNOW it's my fault."_

 _"It's not." Caleb sighs._

 _She looks up at him, tears blinding her vision. "T-Then why did they die when I was the one in the first place who made them go back? If I told them not to go, they w-wouldn't have... They wouldn't have been there to die in the a-accident."_

 _Caleb frowns. "It was meant to happen either way, Bea.-"_

 _"I should die, shouldn't I? Maybe you'd be happier if I did. It was my fault anyway, how do you even look at me?"_

 _He lets out a desperate and sad breath "Please, stop beating yourself up. You're the only one I have left, don't be like this or I'll be alone. You're causing pain to me too by thinking that."_

 _"But I have this on my shoulders- dying would-"_

 _"Make me angry and I'd never forgive you. Mom and dad's death wasn't your fault, but killing yourself WILL be, and I'd never forgive you."_

 _I know he's just trying to get me to feel like it's horrible if I would commit suicide... But he_ would _be alone, and I owe him for taking our parents away._

 _"Okay." I finally whisper._

 _"Okay that you've finally accepted what happened wasn't your fault, or okay that you won't leave me?"_

 _"Okay that I won't leave you. It's the least I can do."_

 _"Thank you. I love you, Bea. Don't ever forget, and I'll never leave you either."_

Tris feels the air around her change into thickness, she felt like sobbing. She felt like ripping her insides out.

 _But you left me, Caleb. You left me for Susan. And you don't even know that everyday, I wake up thinking that 'Today might be the day I die'. You don't know, and now, you shouldn't care if I want to leave this earth anyway._

 _You'd never even know if I was either killed, or if I'd committed suicide._

Maybe she really _did_ want to die, now was her chance, right?

But what about Caleb and-

Screw it. Screw him. He'd left her for 'love', sure, it was so likely he'd be there her whole life.

She needed to let this sudden anger and hurt out. Now.

She slowly positions herself from the bed, lifts herself into a standing position, takes one step, and trips over the blanket that had gathered at the bottom of the bed. She catches herself before her leg smacks hard onto the floor.

"Seriously?" She hisses with a deadly quiet tone.

She steadies herself again, and begins to limp toward the door, grabbing her sandals, room key, and slipping out.

It was a torture. Every few moments, Tris would switch from hopping on one foot, to limping again.

Then she feels like she'll cry.

From the fact that thoughts of Caleb and her parents keep swirling her mind, or that she was still wearing Four's shirt, she could not tell.

Tris stifles a scream of frustration and heads back a few steps, knocking on the door of a room.

When it is finally agape, Christina gives her one look, opens, and shuts her mouth.

"Can you give me some clothes?"

Christina lets out a breath, and helps Tris inside. As she looks for some clothes Tris examines the room, trying to appear calm though she knows for sure that she looks like hell. She can feel the waves of curiosity jumping off of Christina but thankfully she doesn't further question anything.

"Here, I have this." Christina answers after a moment. It's a pair of black shorts and a black hoodie with white strings.

Tris limps toward her and Christina holds up a hand. "Look, I know you're not in the mood, but if you're dying to leave now then let me help you. We can do it here too, Will is sleeping like the dead."

Tris nods.

Christina helps her slip on the hoodie with ease, then slowly squirm the shorts onto her legs.

Tris gives her a forced smile and turns to head out when Christina stops her.

"Wait, at least look in the mirror."

She glances toward it and notices that her hair is messed up, her eyes look tired, and her leg just adds to the depressed feeling. Then she notices the hoodie.

 **I WOKE UP LIKE THIS -_-**

"That's not even funny." She states bitterly as Christina bursts out laughing.

"Okay, okay, fine. Let me at least put some eye liner on!"

* * *

Tris finally sees the training room. She begins to limp faster, using her anger and sadness to help boost her speed when she smacks into someone turning a corner, holding a box.

"Watch it." She fumes while supporting herself with the wall.

She turns and steadies herself, then continues to walk when a hand reaches out. "Tris? Why are you here?"

She shrugs out of his grasp and lets the last of her anger come in rushing waves, allowing her to make the final steps to the training room. She moves to kick the wall with her good leg when Four stops her.

"Are you... okay?" He asks carefully, eyeing her injury.

"No." She whispers, trying to hold it in.

He kicks the wall for her and watches as it opens. "Do you need any help or-"

 _Control it control it control it control it control it contr-_

She scowls. "No, I don't need help, leave me alone, and you wouldn't even be asking that if it weren't for THIS STUPID FUCKING LEG!"

He flinches as she ends up screaming the last part.

"Whoa, do you want the whole world to hear y-"

"THEN. SHUT. UP!" She continues. "There's a game in less than an hour and _I can't even walk_ , what if I'm picked again? Stop acting like it's NOTHING!"

He looks at her weirdly, more like confused.

"You're not going to get picked again, Tris. Your leg will be fine. Now let's go to the training room quietly, and we can talk there." He answers, part calm, part freaked, and part worried.

The moment he gets her into the training room, despite her injury, she makes a dash for the guns and starts to shoot toward the target.

 _Bam._

 _Bam._

 _Bam._

New gun, new target.

"Tris.

 _Bam._

 _Bam._

 _Bam._

New gun, new target.

This continues ten times until there are no more targets left, and no more guns lying on the tables with ammo.

"Tris."

She walks toward the knives next, picking up three and lining herself in front of the target.

"Tris."

 _Thump._

 _Thump._

 _Thump._

"Tris, please."

 _Thump._

 _Thump._

 _Thump._

"Why are you mad at _me_?"

She turns, taking a deep breath. Her words were meant to come out calm, instead they come out bitterly, traced with frustration. "I'm not mad at _you,_ okay? Can you please be quiet while I do this? I _need_ to do this."

He crosses his arms. "I know, I can see, but can you tell me what's going-"

 _Thump._

She ignores him.

 _Thump._

 _Thump._

He narrows his eyes at her like an unsaid threat, but she ignores that as well and picks up another knife, walking to the target.

Tris can feel him watching her with observant eyes.

She stops right in front of the target and starts to carve something in the very corner, something you'd only be able to see if very close.

 ** _I w_ A _n_** **T t _O D_** **i** ** _E. i_** **Wa _N_ t T _o E_ s _c_ A _p_ E.**

Then she walks away and throws the knife onto the table, watching it slide and fall off. She bites her lip, swallowing the lump in her throat back down.

There.

And she felt somewhat relief, anger, and sadness at the same time.

 _Caleb, I don't even know if I'm sorry._

She stays still as Four passes her and goes to read what she'd carved.

A few moments pass by.

"Don't we all." He finally answers while looking at the words, no louder than a murmur.

But Tris moves over to the mats and curls herself into a ball, face pressed against her knees.

 _Something is wrong with me._

The very first thing that popped into her head.

Yes, something was wrong with her alright, she could feel it. This was not the way she used to be.

But the tears don't come. Why would there be?

Light, soft, footsteps.

He pulls her arms away from her body and sets them to the side. "Tris?"

She stares at him blankly. "What, so I'm a freak now? Or a coward? Because I want to kill myself?"

He stares at her for a few seconds before grabbing her hands and giving them a light squeeze. "If you think you're a freak, of all things, then you're crazy."

She lets out an angry and bitter laugh. "Yeah, right."

"You don't believe me?"

She glares at the floor. "Not in a million years."

She pulls her hands away, wrapping them around her knees when he stands up and leaves for a second. The he comes back, crouching in front of her, close enough for her to realize that his eyes look drained like her own.

"Can I trust you with something?" He whispers, so quietly she could barely hear him through the rapid thumping of her heart.

Tris closes her eyes. "Might as well."

He's silent for a moment before blowing out a breath. "If anyone in the entire world is a coward, it's not you, it's me."

She's about to snort, when she changes her mind and decides to give a small smile. "Like I'd believe that, huh?"

When she opens her eyes Four is so close, that she felt like she'd drown under the gaze of his dark blue eyes, they held so much secrets and depth.

But she leans back. "I wouldn't expect you to understand. You're anything but a coward."

He shakes his head. "If you think I'm kidding then I must be a better actor than I thought myself to be."

"The thing is, you _aren't_ acting." Tris answers-

-Just as Will walked through the door.

Four gets up and moves toward the knives to retrieve them from the targets, sunken inches deep with anger.

"Oh, hey Four, Tris." He greets, merely glancing at them before heading to the back.

Tris clears her throat from any remaining evidence of exasperation in her voice. "Hey. What's up?"

He glances at her, then _looks_ at her. "What's up? What about what's down? What happened with your leg?"

"Long story short, I fell." She sighs, slowly pushing herself up. "Here to train? I think we can squeeze in a little time."

Will gestures the offer away with his hand. "Nah, I'm here for the gadgets."

"Gadgets? When were there gadgets?"

"They were always here, you may have thought that they were regular weapons or random objects though."

Tris slowly walks over to Will, watching him pull out something small and silver. "What's that?"

"Never heard of it?" He asks while holding it up for her to closely look at.

"Um... A ring?"

Will shakes his head. "I'd demonstrate, but I get a feeling you'd kill me later."

Tris grabs the ring from his hands. "Well, what does it do?"

Will shrugs. "Nothing amazing. It's a pepper spray ring, here, put it on."

She can tell that he knows she's not in the best of moods, so he tries to make her laugh.

Which is why Tris smiles, feeling a bit better, as he dramatically bends down on one knee and holds it toward her.

"May I?" He asks with an impressive formal accent.

She slips her right index finger into the ring.

"Fits perfectly." She chuckles.

"Wow Will, cheating on me already? Not even cheating, you're getting engaged to my best friend?"

Tris glances back at Christina who walks in all of a sudden, wearing a hoodie like her own except without the words and some black leggings.

Will stands up, hands in the air. Tris chuckles as she leaves them, and heads out the door, watching Christina give her a _'you better now?'_ look. She shrugs.

She allows her mind to drift again, she was too tired to think about her family.

Could this ring be used for the games? Is that why there were gadgets in the room in the first place?

Tris quickly turns a corner and walks a bit slower, hoping her leg won't strain and ache again.

And what the hell was wrong with her? She was randomly becoming angry within seconds, and then now here she was all fine! Not even that, Four would have to comfort her as if she were this stupid little kid or something that was emotional about everything.

Again, she couldn't help but think something was _seriously_ wrong with her.

There was just a great deal of issues stacking up, waiting for Tris to solve them.

Tris hears foot steps behind her.

She glances back. "I was thinking about the games."

Four frowns. "Is there ever anything positive going on in that brain of yours?"

She stops walking to lean against the wall and let her leg rest. "Probably not."

"And _why_ not?"

"Because there _is_ nothing happy for me to think about."

Four shrugs. "So you're saying I'm not a happy thing you think about?"

She's silent as she shrugs.

"You're a confounding thing to think about." She answers instead.

Realization suddenly hits her face. "Holy _shit_."

She starts walking quickly again, breathing becoming labored from forcing her leg to freaking move.

Four catches up with her, keeping pace. "Tris, what are you-"

"It's time." She whispers quietly under her breath. "I completely forgot."

* * *

 **It's quite amusing, really. Us humans. We have all sorts of feelings and emotions, some so important for the world we live in, and some unnecessary thoughts that get in the way.**

 **One trait that humans have is bravery.**

 **But what gets in the way? Arrogance and potentially, confidence.**

 **You have to be brave, you have to take chances in the world, you can't just be confident and have a _back up_ _plan_ because life is unpredictable.**

 **So like with these games, you all think that you are confident. That you will eventually get used to being here and participating in the games.**

 **That, is where you all are wrong.**

 **See, you all have gotten confidence in yourselves, that when you individually get picked you'd try to win and prove yourselves.**

 **The thing is, nothing can or will prepare you for the games. So fear is natural. Actually, it's quite welcome here. But if arrogance comes in the way, you are not far from failing, my friend.**

 ** _You must feel brave_ , not let confidence and arrogance get in the way of your thinking. Just _do_ , don't think.**

 **And for this particular mini game today, _that's_ what is important.**

 **Volunteers, anyone?**

Tris frowns. She had no idea what was going on. Bravery? Arrogance? Confidence? Unpredictable? Her mind was too tired to process the words into proper meaning.

No one gets up. Everyone just stares at each other, waiting on one another.

She doesn't know what gives her the courage.

Tris stands, brushing a strand of hair from her face as she purposely takes suspenseful strides over to the front of the screen. It takes hours to get there. Or perhaps it's the tension in the room making her feel that way, or the way her leg forces her to take slow steps.

She sets her hands on the red lever, and internally shudders from how cold it feels, as though it had been staying out in the dark for months.

She turns away from everyone, and closes her eyes.

 _Please, please have our group turn out okay, please. I know it's been long since I've asked you anything, but oh God, I can't stand anyone dying._ She mouths quietly before pushing the lever down hard, then back up.

From where she was standing, the clicks of the slots are more louder and terrifying than before.

She makes her way back to her table and slides in next to Lynn.

Then the names are displayed.

 **Group A: Rita**

 **Group B: Uriah**

Rita...

The fragile girl Tris had seen one time when the girls were walking back from the training room. It basically went like this: They all were walking back when they came to an intersection between the two hallways and saw a cute girl walking past, quickly. She was obviously their age, but she seemed like a delicate person. That's when another voice called, "Rita! Come on!" and the girl had rushed away.

 _Uriah. And of all people, Rita._ Tris thinks, suddenly becoming troubled and panicked all at once.

"No, wait, Uri!" She hisses, trying to get out of her seat quietly.

He glances at her and flashes a smile, reassuring her to stay calm. But she had to tell him something. Now.

But before she can run after his retreating body Lynn has grabbed her elbow and pinched so hard, she could feel tears prickle her eyes.

"Ow! What the hell?" She glares at Lynn who's wearing a straight face.

"Let him be."

She watches Uriah stand in the front followed by a girl with long brown hair neatly pulled into a ponytail. Her head was held high, though her face showed an expression of angst.

The door slides and they walk in, Tris feels her shoulders slump as for the last time she tries to signal him.

It doesn't work.

Lynn rolls her eyes and pulls Tris towards the others who were headed to the Observation room.

"What the hell do you have to say to him anyway?" She whispers.

Tris lets out a sound of desperation. "T-That girl! She's scared and feeble. Uriah'll over-do it!"

"What do you even mean?" She asks, shutting the door closed behind them. "Uriah can't over-do _survival_ , okay?"

A snort. "She _means_ , your boy'll over-estimate Rita's abilities. She's only good in hacking and school work, not physically built. She'll end up dying and he'll feel guilty for the rest of his life because she didn't fight back. Because she didn't _try_ to fight back, only because she doesn't even know _how_."

They both whip around to find a guy leaning against the wall. He's wearing a blue hoodie with white strings, and blue joggers that are so dark, if you were far away, you'd mistaken them for black. Lynn steps forward, scowling at his face _covered_ with piercings. So literal that Tris loses count, his eyes are extremely cold and an uninviting green, his hair is dark and greasy. Not quite hard to read what's invisibly written all over him: STAY AWAY, DANGEROUS!

"Who the hell are you and why are you here?"

He snorts. "Oh please, we are across this huge room, are we not allowed to _cross_ it to say hello?"

It never occurred to Tris that they could even _do_ that, she was always so engrossed into the games, never paying much attention about the opposite team.

Tris folds her arms across her chest, forcing herself to appear more bold than she feels. "Well how unfortunate for you that you can't act upon your words."

He raises a brow, light catching on one of his piercings. With a twisted smile, "Hello. I'm Eric."

"Hello there, ass. What an unfortunate pleasure to meet you. Step back now." Lynn hisses.

He smirks, taking a step back. Tris tenses and discreetly takes the smallest of steps backward as well. She was feeling daunted by him. His body was muscular and his posture was filled with such purpose she felt he'd jump any second. But he was standing with such ease as well, it was almost unbelievable he could do two things at once.

Lynn spits some words out at him, but Tris tunes out for a second-

She glances back slowly to see Four leaning against the back wall, arms crossed, watching the exchange with dark and penetrating eyes.

She looks back at Eric who addresses her.

" _What?_ " She answers indecently.

Tris holds in a shudder, watching his smile grow bigger. He knew she was afraid of him- and he was amused by the control. "Liked looking at your face. Needed your attention to see it again."

She opens her mouth when Lynn steps in front of Tris and grabs her arm. "Either you move the fuck back or I'll make you."

He grunts. "Huh, really? How?"

Tris becomes still as Eric takes a step closer, and Lynn crosses her arms.

"What's going on?" Someone calls. "You're looking a little _stiff_ there."

Tris turns her head to see none other than Peter.

"Huh, that's actually a pretty neat name. Stiff, I like it, fits perfectly to someone as ugly as you." He continues.

 _Holy Mother-_

"You guys will either shut the fuck up and go back to your goddamn place or I will beat the living shit out of you and shove your faces up your asses. The game is starting, I'd suggest being wise before it's either of your turns next."

Tris has to turn around at the menacing and intimidating voice, and she is dumbfounded to see that the voice belonged to Four.

A flash of fear crosses Peter's face, though Eric's remains as a scowl. Peter heads back to their place across the large room, though Eric lingers.

"Ah, Four. How long has it been? Looks like you've caught some interest in somebody."

Four doesn't even glance at Tris. He just snorts. "As if, I'd never look twice at anyone like her."

She can't even explain the anger and pain that spreads throughout her body. She feels like she'd been stabbed in the body with a dozen knives. _What did he say?_

"That's not true." He smirks.

Four shrugs. "Depends on how you look at it, if you mean that she would get looked twice at because you could see her at a- _freak show_ \- then why not?"

Tris frowns when he swallows hard before saying 'freak show'. Nonetheless, she is shocked and extremely hurt.

Eric shrugs. "Hmph, that's true. You're right. But why are you protecting her?"

Four shakes his head. "You think she can even protect herself? I feel bad."

And then all she sees and feels is one thing: Rage.

 _How dare he? I can defend myself better than half of the people in the room, probably even more._

Four crosses his arms. "Best you leave."

"I'm not scared of you."

"You should be. I've done it once, I can do it again."

This earns a scowl and Tris backs up until she bumps into Zeke.

She turns to him. "Does he know him?"

Zeke shakes his head. "This is absurd. I never payed attention to the other team to notice he was there, Eric is such a fucking ass."

Zeke pulls Tris to the corner of the room. "Stay here. He's got you as a target."

"What do you mean? Why did Four have to make me look like a fucking vulnerable girl?!" She asks, though Zeke shakes his head while holding a finger to his lips and walks away. A ping sounds, and Eric returns to his spot. Tris walks toward Christina and Will, making sure Four doesn't come near her.

 ** _Feel_ brave.**

 **Forget arrogance and confidence.**

 **Quite simple. Yet so hard to follow.**

 **Your goal? Find the red button...**

 **In the dark.**

 **The catch is, you're not going forward, you're going** _ **down.**_

 **Three skills are required. Bravery, instincts, and luck.**

 **There's no way to plan anything because you cannot see.**

 **Though all you can do is trust your instincts, and fall.**

 **As you go down, you will find little things along the way. Consider them your power-ups to help you through.**

 **That being said, Best of luck.**

Tris steps back and watches as the screen becomes completely dark. Then, like putting on night vision goggles, she and everyone else in the room are able too see through a faded green screen, except Uriah and Rita themselves.

As usual, her eyes flicker around the screen as she tries to take in their surroundings, somehow it looks familiar. Uriah waves his hands in front of him and begins taking slow tentative steps forward while Rita stays in place, hugging herself of fear.

Then it hits her.

She steps forward until she is standing next to Lynn again, though she speaks loud enough for everyone in Group B to hear. "I know this so freaking well."

Lynn gives her a side glance. Her voice bitter from emotion, "How so?"

She stares at the screen, continuing. "It's something I've played so many times in Minecraft. A dropper map. You jump, and hope that your positioning is right, so you'll safely land into the water."

Tris stares at the screen, remembering the earlier words. "Though, knowing the games so far, there's probably a few little edits..."

Lynn raises her eyebrows. "And if not?"

Tris raises a brow.

"If their positioning isn't right?" Lynn elaborates.

Tris lifts her hands and slams them together, making a 'poof' noise while doing so.

* * *

 _ **A/N- So that's basically happening. If you're not familiar with a dropper map, idk, I guess you can search up, 'Minecraft dropper map' and it'll show you this rainbow map thingy. Just know that I'm adding my own twist to the dropper map though, so even though in Minecraft you jump straight down and land in water, I'll be making alternations to it... Wait and see.**_

 _ **So that's that...**_

 _ **Sorry if I made any errors or grammatical mistakes! Felt obliged to get out a chapter after THE FREAKING TEASER TRAILER DAYUMM!**_

 _ **Follow. fave. Review, whatever ya want.**_

 _ **AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR REVIEWS, I TOTALLY DID NOT JUST FORGET THAT!... Thanks for all ur kind and encouraging reviews for me to keep writing, that's literally the only reason I write with more interest and passion. This story recently reached a bit over 5,300 views, and it's almost till 100 reviews! THAT IS INSANE FOR ONLY 13 CHAPPIES! OH MY GOD!**_

 _ **THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU AND LOVE YA LOVE YA LOVE YA!**_

 _ **~divergentFREAK24**_


	14. Chapter 14

Leaving an expressionless Lynn, Tris makes her way back to stand in front of Christina and Will, purposely standing a bit between them so that she was pretty much surrounded, making it hard for Four to reach her if he ever did end up going to her.

Rita is literally shaking now, though she takes small steps forward.

Tris leans a bit forward as she watches Rita. Even through her fear, her steps are calculated with precision and purpose.

"I don't understand what they're supposed to do." Christina whispers, leaning toward Tris's ear so she can hear.

Tris narrows her eyes at the screen, scanning the little rectangular area Uriah and Rita were in.

"You see those randomly scattered holes on the floor?" Tris asks, pointing to the dark areas covering the ground.

"Mhmm."

"Well, those are holes that'll bring them to fall down into... whatever they're supposed to fall into."

Christina frowns. "But you said they had to keep correct positioning, not choose a correct hole."

Tris shakes her head. "All the holes _will_ make you fall. It's just that the holes are wide."

Tris crosses her arms, trying to think of a simple way to explain what she meant. _Damn, it'd be way easier if she had a computer or something right now._

"...So for example, let's say you're holding a small ramp in one hand and a water bottle in the other. You have to position the ramp carefully so that the liquid falls into the small hole of the bottle, and make sure that the rest doesn't spill out from the sides. So, similar with the game going on right now, they have to choose a correct side of a hole and jump. Whether they fall into whatever they're supposed to or not, it's pure luck and strategy." Tris says slowly, hoping that makes a good explanation.

Christina lets out a breath. "But what were you talking about when you were near Lynn and Eric?"

Tris turns around. "What?"

"You said Uriah would over-do something." Will interrupts, giving away that he was tuning into the conversation.

She purses her lips together. "I didn't mean..."

She ends up trailing off as someone, Zeke in fact, catches her eye. He was standing near Shauna, face focused and serious. It was odd, not seeing him smile or joke around.

She was so focused into how Uriah might mess up that she completely forgot about how worried Zeke would be. He was watching his own brother try to survive.

Tris shudders, shaking away the thought of Caleb being in Uriah's position. Zeke was keeping himself together, if that was her, she'd be hysterical. Although she could still sense the unease and tense waves coming from him with his jaw clenched.

Someone coughs, and Tris looks back at the screen to see Uriah with a hand over his mouth.

 _"What do you think is down there?"_ Rita asks loudly to the dark, hands hugging her arms.

Uriah's head snaps toward the direction of her voice. His eyes squint as he tries to spot where she's standing, but gives up.

" _Something that'll catch us."_ He responds, crouching down onto the floor.

"What the hell, are they helping each other?" Someone says aloud.

She glances at Peter, who's eyes are set into a glare at the screen.

"They're just talking." Zeke speaks up, teeth clenched. "That's why God gave us a mouth."

He turns his head to Zeke. "Yeah? They're using their mouth to cheat."

Zeke exhales a deep breath, slightly irked. "I don't even care what they're doing, as long as they live. But if you insist, Rita spoke first, so I wouldn't try to act all smart and rage for no reason."

Peter opens his mouth, but nothing comes out.

Lynn whistles.

Tris feels her heart settle as Zeke gives a small smile, speaking one last time. "Get rekt, son."

She stifles a laugh. Man, the tension in the room, it made her want to giggle hysterically.

Tris peers at the screen again, just in time to see Uriah rub his face, let out a deep breath, and jump.

Her heart stops, dropping right into the pit of her stomach.

She looks away. It was horrific. She felt like Uriah was her second brother. How could she watch him? What if he died? What if he didn't do it right? What if-

But then there's a whoop. _"YES! URIAH HERE AIN'T NO PANSYCAKE!"_

Christina grabs Tris's arm tightly. "Holy shit, dude. He landed in a net."

Sure enough, Uriah was crawling to the end of the net, slowly climbing off and standing back onto the ground, doing a small victory dance.

Marlene lets out a nervous laugh, trying to shake away the anxiety in the room. "Oh God, he's actually smart."

Tris takes a shaky breath as Rita closes her eyes and does a trust fall.

This makes Tris hold her breath. Thankfully, Rita lands in a net safely... But what if that was her?

What if Tris had done that? After all, she _was_ having disturbing thoughts of suicide. So would she not even care about the games and just trust fall like Rita?

Yet her mind wanders back over to the screen, earlier when it had said, 'don't think, just do'.

Was Rita just going through it?

She shakes these grim and confusing thoughts away. No, she had told herself that she'd risk her life for her group, not just die in a game and leave their victory in the hands of another group.

Uriah crouches again, making his way cautiously yet blindly to a new hole.

Then Tris looks over at Rita, who's on the opposite side of the room from Uriah. Unlike him, she was no longer shaking with fear, but walking.

She trips suddenly. Tris winces. She shouldn't be feeling anything but hate towards the other group, but Rita seemed different. Just an innocent girl like them that's trying to survive and escape.

Rita gasps as she crouches. Her hands feel around her until they settle on a cube shaped box.

Her fingers worked skillfully as she unfastened the container.

She runs her fingers against the object in her hand, then gives out a cry of relief.

" _Holy mother of God, thank the heavens."_ She whimpers.

"What is it?" Shauna asks.

Her question is answered when Rita stands, and a click sounds.

"She got a fucking _flashlight_!?" Lynn exclaims. "How the hell will Uri compete with that?!"

There's a set of victorious laughter from across the room, but Tris tunes them out and looks back at Uriah who's climbing out of another net.

"Why did she get that anyway?" Al asks.

Tris nibbles at her lower lip. "If you were paying attention, the screen had said that throughout, they'd get power-ups."

He snorts. "More like immediate victory."

There's a loud curse and everyone looks back up at the screen, just in time to see Uriah land half-way into the net, nearly missing it, then bouncing right off onto the cement ground.

His hiss of pain is loud and clear, as if he'd hissed into a microphone.

Tris grimaces as he pushes himself off and swears. " _That wasn't supposed to hurt that much!_ "

He rubs a hand over his arm and blood comes spilling lightly. His eyes widen. " _Wait, what?_ "

Then he's crouched onto the floor, patting the ground until his hands close around a box.

" _Damn you, sharp corners."_ He states before unfastening the plastic around.

"If he doesn't get a flashlight, I swear to God I'll pinch myself so fucking hard that-" Lynn trails off when Uriah stands again, holding a round object with both hands delicately.

"That's... That's a bouncy ball." Zeke says, voice bitter.

Everyone turns toward Lynn, almost expectantly, and she gathers the skin from her arm between her thumb and index finger before squeezing hard.

When she lets go, her eyes shine and the marks that have been left are incredibly white.

"Fuck the world." She whispers, voice unstable.

Tris stares back at the screen, watching as Rita makes her next calculated jump, falling directly in the middle of the next net. Of course, it wasn't even a surprise anymore. Like Al had said, it was an immediate advantage- So great that Rita could see through the dark and easily interpret where she'd have to stand to jump and land perfectly.

As time passes, slowly but surely, they've jumped at least 8 times. In total so far, Rita has her flashlight, gloves, goggles, and a syringe. Uriah has a small bouncy ball, some type of clothespin, a small knife, and about 6 feet of rope.

It was very clear, that Uriah had no flashlight, and that he _wouldn't_ end up getting one anytime soon.

While Rita had jumped with ease throughout the whole game, always ahead, Uriah had either almost missed a net or landed wrongly.

Each little 'floor', you could say, was getting harder and harder to get through. The holes would be hidden around the room, and while Rita found them without difficulty, Uriah took forever.

He needed a light to win.

Which gets Tris thinking.

She maneuvers her way to the back again. "Hey, Marlene?" She calls quietly, "quick question."

Marlene raises her head to look at her. "Yeah?"

She purses her lips momentarily before speaking. "Has... Uriah set a certain ringtone or something on his phone for whenever I message or call? Because he's always replying rather quickly."

Marlene shrugs. "We have nothing to do here, of course he'd reply early."

She catches Tris's look and frowns. "Well, yeah. He has a habit of keeping the volume down, for some reason he doesn't like to keep the ringer tone up. So he likes to set his phone face-down and whenever someone messages or calls, it'll vibrate, making a loud sound from the drawer or counter."

"But that doesn't really answer my question." Tris sets forth.

Marlene looks a bit awkward and troublesome. "Um. for you specifically, he's set a light onto his phone. So if anyone calls, his phone will vibrate, but if _you_ call or message him, it'll flash a light on and off, getting his attention."

Tris feels the smile creep onto her face, and she almost cries out in relief like Rita had done.

"It has a light? Only when I do anything from my phone?"

"Yeah..." Marlene answers.

Tris immediately reaches inside her pocket to grab her phone, when her fingers suddenly get nothing.

Her eyes widen. "Holy shit. No way."

She frantically pats her pockets, turning them inside out, the only thing producing was her room key.

"What're you-"

"My phone!" Tris gasps, not wanting to draw attention or be loud. "I must have left it in my room before I went to the training room!"

"But why do-"

Tris cuts her off. "Look, Marlene. Uriah can't win this game unless he has a light. And you said that when I call a light flashes. He can use that for the game, but I need to go back and get it, don't tell anyone what I'm doing."

With that, Tris slips out of the door, barely feeling the strain she's putting on her leg from her frantic running.

When she's a quarter way to go, Tris slows into a light jog, trying to give her leg some time to stop aching. She could barely feel it though. The sudden adrenaline was pumping through her veins, making it hard to feel.

The moment she sees her door she unlocks the room and runs straight over to the counter. Except it wasn't there.

"Not now, not now." Tris gasps as she frantically pats down the counter, hoping her phone will magically appear. It doesn't.

She runs toward the bathroom and checks the sink, hadn't she taken a shower? Must be there. Except after looking around and practically throwing all the folded towels onto the floor, there still is no phone.

Tris wipes at her forehead, getting stray hairs away from her eyes before running back over to the kitchen cabinets, where she might have misplaced it with the first aid kit. She opens the box and fiddles with the supplies, searching for a black rectangular object but there is still nothing.

"What the fuck!?" Tris screams, starting to feel the panic and urgency seep in. She couldn't waste anymore time! She had to find it now!

Tris quickly walks over to Four's bed, snatching his blanket from his made-bed, and even tossing the pillow, but all she finds is his earphones.

Adrenaline gone, just pure fear, Tris makes her way over to her own bed and throws the pillow. Nothing. Frustrated, she snatches her blanket and with all her might, throws it across the whole room...

And hears a loud horrifying thud.

Staying still for 5 whole seconds, Tris finally dashes toward the blanket she'd thrown, remembering when she had come out of the shower and tossed it on her bed, but it had fallen onto the floor and nearly gave her a heart attack.

She slowly removes the blanket and almost drops dead. Her phone was facing down. Had her screen...?

Slowly and gingerly grabbing the phone, she turns it over to reveal a perfectly fine quality screen.

"Oh God, thank you." She whispers, letting out a huge sigh of relief, then runs out, not caring about how she'd messed up the whole entire room.

Her leg was seriously starting to burn, as if she'd taken a hot pot from the stove and placed it over her ankle. But nonetheless, Tris scrolls through her contacts and calls Uriah.

Of course he doesn't pick up, why would he? But it still makes her weary because the possibility of him even noticing the phone flashing was rare.

She had to keep calling though, because whenever he _did_ manage to notice the phone, he'd need a constant light flashing for him to see in the dark.

So again and again, she calls.

When the cafeteria door appears in view, she slows into a walk, trying to catch her breath and ignore the strain in her leg. She felt like she'd been running for miles and miles nonstop.

Shoving the door open, she glances at the screen where it shows Uriah and Rita's names. In a few minutes, that would be gone, replaced with a black screen all over again. And when the time came, there would be a new set of words and a new set of people competing.

Slowly, Tris opens the door to the Observation room and almost bumps into Marlene who's blocking the entrance for whenever Tris came.

"Did he notice?" Tris asks as she taps the call button again, thumb starting to feel a little sore.

Marlene whips around and puts a hand to her heart. "Oh God! You're back! I don't think so, but there's about 2 more floors to go, and Rita is in a helluva lead. Uriah used up his useful power-ups already. the knife _and_ the rope. the clothespin is useless. And what the _hell_ would he do with a small bouncy ball?!"

Tris looks back at the screen to see that Marlene is right with the lead, there's 2 floors. Uriah is on the 2nd floor, Rita is on the 1st, and beneath her is the button to victory.

"Each floor was getting even harder and harder. Uriah almost died like, five times." Marlene continues to explain, trying to appear calm. "And Zeke is refusing to not _not_ look. He is just stubbornly _glued_ to the damned screen, and he won't listen to anyone, not even his roommate, Shauna, who keeps insisting that he doesn't watch."

She can practically feel the heavy breaths Uriah is taking as she watches his chest rise and fall. He's preparing for the last and final jump before finally catching up with Rita, who is still trying to search for a correct hole, despite the glorious light she holds in her grasp. Tris stiffens as she follows Uriah's estimated jump to the bottom, right where there _is_ nothing to catch him.

Tris closes her eyes momentarily and takes a deep breath, putting all her hopes and energy into her thumb, as she lightly taps the screen of her phone once again, and possibly for the last time of her life... and his.

Then Uriah freezes, in a crouched position.

 _"What the hell...?"_ He mumbles as he reaches into his back pocket.

Marlene turns to Tris with wide eyes, voice small. "No way."

Uriah stands again as he flips his phone over to look at his screen. _"Who is...? Tr-"_

Tris feels her heart beating in the back of her throat, except he stops himself from speaking anymore. He'd almost revealed her name to everyone. Tris lets out a breath, thinking of the chaos everyone would cause if they knew.

Uriah glances around as if he wanted to thank her right then as realization suddenly hits him straight across the face.

Tris hits the call button again and he slowly yet unsure, turns his phone toward the hole he was about to jump through.

Marlene shares a nervous yet relieved look with Tris as he stiffens, then changes his direction toward the other side of the room.

And as if breaking him from some type of possessed spell, Zeke turns around and looks directly at them.

"What's going on?"

Marlene gestures for him to come near as Tris continues to call Uriah.

When he's within earshot his eyes narrow. "What the fuck?"

Tris shows him the phone. "We're calling him through my phone so he can use the light to navigate. He almost _killed_ himself, calm down."

At that, his face softens for a moment. "I _am_ calm. Grateful actually. But Tris, what the hell is wrong with you? That's a huge risk you're taking!"

She places a finger over her lips. "It's a risk, I'm _willing_ to take. Can't argue with volunteering."

He crosses his arms over his chest, voice quiet. "I don't want you risking your life for my brother, okay? If you get 'disqualified' then I'm stepping in. I'll lock you in a room and hide the key if it means that I'll take your place. You're an important person here. Don't throw your life away like that."

Though deeply taken aback, she straightens. "No way, I care for everyone here like a family. My little sacrifice wouldn't affect anyone."

Zeke's eyes widen, and he opens his mouth to speak when there's a sudden scream.

 _"Get away! Go!"_ Rita yells, trying to block the hole she's standing near.

Uriah jumps back a bit, surprised at her reaction. _"What is your problem? I'm going through this hole, Goddamn!"_

Rita shoves Uriah and he topples backward slightly. _"Whoa! Calm down! You'll kill me!"_

Rita's eyes narrow. _"I will win. And you cannot go through this hole."_

Tris feels shocked, and there's a feeling of dread deep in her stomach. The innocent girl she'd known wasn't that feeble little darling anymore.

 _"Rita, chill. Oh my God, CHILL!"_ He yells again, trying to swat her hands away.

 _"Get lost, I'm going through here, not you."_ She growls, kicking his shin. His sharp intake of breath causes Zeke to stiffen. Tris moves forward slightly and presses a shaky hand onto his shoulder, giving it a squeeze. When Zeke glances at her she purses her lips together, gives him a reassuring smile, then looks back at the screen.

 _"Rita! Rita STOP! Have you gone mad?!"_ He yells as she slowly grabs something from the back of her pocket. Tris squints her eyes at the shiny object. Then her eyes widen.

A power-up.

The syringe.

Rita takes off the little cap from the needle and gives it a little flick, watching a drop of liquid fly off against the light of Uriah's phone.

 _"Rita."_ Uriah says, starting to come closer, hands in front of him. _"Cut it out."_

She slowly aims it at him. He shakes his head, suddenly realizing that she's not kidding.

 _"Are you insane?! You've got to be kidding me!"_ He shouts as Rita pulls her arm back.

Then in a flash, she's injecting it into his neck, and Uriah's eyes slowly come out of focus.

 _"Let me through, go to hell for all I care."_ She hisses. Rita quickly takes a step back, waiting for Uriah to drop unconscious, when he forces his eyes to remain open.

 _"Whadda... Whadda hell wha in dat...?"_ Uriah tries to speak, but it comes out as if his tongue has swollen up. Irritation and effort flashes in his eyes as he tries to stay upright. He reaches into his pocket, grabbing for something. Then for a split second, his eyes return with life.

 _"I'm not some psychotic freak like you, I don't want to fight like some lunatic who-"_

But Rita lunges at him, and then he's falling down the hole. Whatever was in his pocket comes flying out as he flails his arms, trying to catch himself.

Then he lands right into the net, his frame seeming extra heavy as the syringe that Rita had shoved into his neck begins to take him over.

 _"HOLY FUCKING-!"_ However Uriah's attempt to save Rita is extremely delayed with the drug inside of him. Right after her body hits the ground with a thud, a small object bounces from the top of the floor.

A bouncy ball, as a matter of fact.

Despite the crazy chaos going on, Tris feels an odd urge to laugh. Looks like that useless little ball did something after all.

Tris taps the call button again as she realizes there's no light for him to use.

Uriah shoves himself off the net and topples to the ground, rolling a few times. His eyes are wide as he takes in Rita's body using his light from the phone. Tris winces at the sight of blood, a large puddle gathering near her body, then splatters of it everywhere from the fall, like a paint bomb had exploded. Her hair is fanned out, and her arms are in awkward angles. Her legs seem like they're backwards, and Tris actually has to turn away as she dry heaves near the entrance of the Observation room, though nothing comes out.

Flashes of her dad's raw and pink arm come and slap her across the face. Again, she gags, coughing uncontrollably.

From the sighs of relief, she can tell that Uriah has pressed the button. But again, it doesn't feel like a victory at all.

She groans softly as she curls into a ball, willing for herself not to vomit. A hand rests against her shoulder, and it takes her a moment to realize it's Zeke.

"Tris. Tris, are you okay?" He asks, concerned, while trying to see her face.

She forces herself to sit, yet her body is still leaning forward like a permanent pain in her stomach is preventing her from staying straight. When she brushes a strand of hair from her face, her hands are shaking.

"I'm fine, your brother needs the attention." She forces out, pushing herself up with great effort.

As if someone had just reminded him that he was supposed to clean the house before his mother arrived, he gives Tris one last look of concern before taking off for Uriah.

She wishes so dearly that she could run toward Uriah and engulf him into a hug, comfort him, but her head was spinning. She needed to get out.

She felt guilty as hell alright.

With one last look behind her, she coughs hard with great effort to not spew right then, and takes off.

She could only hope no one follows her.

* * *

Tris was still retching when Four walked through the door.

"Whoa, are you okay?" He asks while jogging toward her and gently holding the hair from her face.

Tris doesn't answer, she uses the cold water from the sink to wipe her lips and gargle, trying to get the foul taste out of her mouth.

When she finally closes the tap, her hands are slightly shaking, and her face is pale.

"Tris, what happened?" He asks as she slowly makes her way out the door.

She walks over to the counter and grabs the first aid kit, then back to her bed where she tiredly flops down.

"Tris?"

She closes her eyes, then opens then again. "Can you just be quiet?"

Her voice comes out tired and a bit raspy, but Four seems to hear it loud and clear.

"Why?" He asks, confused. "Did I do something?"

She slowly reaches for her leg and bites the inside of her cheek as she unwraps the bandage roll. No wonder her ankle had been burning like crazy, it had begun to bleed again.

Four inhales a sharp breath before walking to the foot of her bed. "Wait, let me do it."

She was too worn out to object, so she lies on her back while he begins to gingerly wrap her ankle again.

But just because she was worn out didn't mean she'd forgotten what he'd said earlier about her to Eric. She was beyond angry at him, but after he finished with her leg would she confront him.

She was almost falling asleep when he finally finished. Her eyes shoot open and she forces herself to sit upright.

"How's Uriah?" She asks, feeling the guilt in her stomach all over again.

He shakes his head. "He was fine, just a scratch on his arm. He was unconscious for about five minutes before waking up.

"But _mentally,_ he's a wreck. He thinks he could've caught Rita, and he blames himself for it. He's mad at himself for letting the bouncy ball smack into her and make her lose her balance.

Tris snaps her head toward him. "That's absurd. She was trying to _kill_ him. And he won the game."

"But did he really? Pressing a button doesn't always feel victorious."

Tris suddenly feels her hands tighten into small fists, before opening again. "Yeah, I know what you mean. And sometimes it appears that people aren't what they always seem like. You might think you're their friend one minute, then they go against you the next."

He looks at her weirdly. "What?"

Then realization hits him right as Tris begins to stand and practically sprint toward the door.

"Wait, Eric? You're talking about Eric? Tris, you've got to be crazy if you think I actually-"

"Yeah, well thanks for filling me in on what I actually seem like to you." She states bitterly before opening the door and running out in the hall.

She'd barely made 20 steps before a strong pair of arms wrap around her waist and slowly push her body against the wall. Four's breathing was slightly fast, but so was Tris's.

They were close, she could feel Four's chest rise and fall against hers. If she wasn't mad at him, she'd actually enjoy the fact that she was pressed against the wall with Four's arms around her tightly, faces few inches apart.

"Tris, I didn't mean what I said back there."

She snorts. "Sure. I guess you're right. No one would ever look twice at me. And no matter how hard I try, I'm just a vulnerable-"

He cuts her off. "You're not any of those things. You'd never be found in a freak show, you're the strongest person I've ever met, and you're beautiful. What I said back there meant nothing."

Tris stares into his eyes. "Bull."

He holds her tighter, fingers firmly gripping her waist. "I'm serious. I said it to protect you."

He waits for her eyes to fix on his. When they do, he lets out a breath, and she feels it graze against her cheek lightly. "You have to belive me."

Tris looks away, then gazes up into his eyes. Slowly, she enunciates every word, voice hard.

"Let go of me."

And he does. He steps backs, dropping his fingers from her and spreading them apart, raising his arms slightly.

"I don't need your fucking protection. I'm capable of taking care of myself." She sourly hisses before taking off again.

This time, he doesn't follow her. He stands still as she runs away and around the corner, diappearing.

She knocks on the door of the room quickly before someone opens it. Marlene.

Marlene lets her step in and without even speaking, Tris flies into Uriah's arms.

"Hey, thanks for thinking of that light thing. It really helped." He says while firmly pressing her body to his.

But she could barely understand what he was saying. The words were jumbled and unintelligible.

Not being able to hold it in, she imagines Uriah as her older brother, Caleb. And that causes even more distress.

The tears that slip down her face next are filled with a deep ache and pain that nobody would be able to understand.

When Uriah notices, he holds her tighter. "Well, guess that makes the two of us with horrible moods."

* * *

 _ **A/N- Hey guys! Thought I'd stop here for this chapter, don't kill meh!**_

 _ **Thank you guys SO much for your amazing reviews, it's so heartwarming to know that a load of you are supporting this story, totally brings a giddy smile to my face whenever I read em. (Not creepy)**_

 _ **If I made any mistakes, or grammatical errors, I'm sorry! I wanted to get the next chapter out, I hate making you all wait. (-_-)**_

 _ **Review, follow, fave, whatever you want! :)**_

 _ **See ya guys next chapter, BYE! LOVE YOU!**_


	15. Chapter 15

Dry mouth, salty tears, burning eyes, raspy breathing... and then it slows. The world is tilting, the color fades to black, and there's silence.

...

 _"This is just unreal, Uriah. Stop and let us help."_

 _"Why? I'm fine! Just let the thing drop Marlene, seriously!"_

 _"Let it drop? Really? You want us to forget that you keep blaming yourself for no valid reason?"_

 _"It's not invalid!"_

There's a loud groan.

 _"Of course it's invalid! That girl was going to murder you, and you're mourning for her? Is there any common sense in you?!"_

 _"I swear you're making a big deal."_

 _"EXCUSE ME? Are you BLIND? EVERYONE is feeling the same way!"_

Uriah blows out a frustrated breath. _"Can we please focus on the fact that Tris is right there, probably sweating, and about to die?"_

There's a tense pause. _"Just shut up and go bring some cold water."_

A light breeze begins to brush against Tris's face, feeling satisfying.

Her eyes flutter open to Marlene fanning her face with her hand, and Uriah holding a cold water bottle with droplets coating the outer surface.

Tris blinks slowly, and Marlene gives her a hesitant smile. What had they been saying earlier? Why hadn't she been able to even _ask_ or force her eyes open?

"What the fuck just happened?" She asks slowly, testing out her voice and finding that it is quite rough and bitter.

Uriah opens the cap of the bottle and holds it out to Tris, who pushes herself up and grabs it from him.

He clears his throat. "Well, you, um, passed out?"

She takes a few sips of the chilled drink and glances at Marlene who is playing with her hair, twirling a soft strand around her finger.

"You were dehydrated, Tris." She tells her, while standing up and making her way back to the fridge.

Uriah shrugs. "I mean, if it makes it any better, don't worry, you passed out with swag. It was all like, slow motion and dramatic! You just slowly became limp and-"

"Uriah freaked out- that's what he's not telling you." Marlene interrupts, rolling her eyes at him.

Tris rakes a hand through her own hair and lets out a breath. "That's just stupid."

Marlene shakes her head. "No, we've all been through a lot, it makes sense."

Well, yeah. She _did_ throw up and.. cry... on Uriah's shoulder. All that loss of water said a lot.

But, as much as crying on Uriah's shoulder bothers her to death, Tris can't help but notice that whenever Uriah and Marlene met eye contact, they shared a scowl or an angry stare.

Uriah stands after a moment of watching Tris play with the label of the water and goes to lean against the counter where the sink was, a few feet away from where Marlene was standing.

Tris places the water bottle next to her on the bed and fixes the hem of her shirt, acting like she didn't notice what they were doing, acting like she wasn't about to tune in to their hushed and forced whispers.

"I bet you a million dollars she'll ask." Marlene tells him quietly, though her ears pick up every word.

"She won't. Why would she?" His tone is stubborn.

"Because everyone is worried about you! You can't just go blaming yourself, and brush off anyone who tries to help you."

Tris assumes that Uriah shakes his head in denial for whatever reason, because Marlene lets out an annoyed huff.

"Fine, whatever."

Then the door opens and Tris looks up just in time to see Marlene walk out and fiercely slam it very hard.

Uriah walks over to the couch and heavily slumps onto it, leaning against it while closing his eyes.

What the hell was going _on_ , seriously!? Everything was like a fast-paced movie. She felt like she'd accidentally skipped a few pages in a book- and was in complete loss about the change in the story-line. She'd only went to Uriah, and now this fight was happening- with her hella confused on Marlene's bed.

Tris grabs Marlene's pillow and hugs it tightly to her chest. "I take it I'm not supposed to ask what that was about?"

He peeks an eye open. "Please."

She stays silent for several minutes, marveling over the fact that people's personalities could change within seconds. Marlene, Uriah, and even Zeke were usually the bubbly ones, and recently, they weren't. Had she stepped into a different world?

Tris whips out her phone and scrolls through it, still trying to comprehend the sudden change. "You know, whatever you did must've really annoyed her, Marlene doesn't get mad easily. And neither do you."

He closes his eyes again. "I know."

His gloomy attitude stumps her, which only reminds her of her own. She'd been crying. She'd even flung herself into Uriah's arms.

 _Da hell caused me to do that?! So embarrassing!_

If anyone outside had seen that- they'd think her lover was Uriah, and she strictly thought of him as a brother! It seemed awkward to feel anything else.

She watches Uriah kind of... space out on her. Like just as she had tons of things going on in her mind, so did he, and they both were alone together.

 _"Ah, an oxymoron, didn't think you'd ever apply something learned in school, to your life." Caleb would've chuckled._

She shakes that thought of her brother away and stares out the door, where she'd ran through. Why had she come here in the first place? Tris frowns, in attempt to concentrate and bring back her memory.

Oh. Right.

Four.

 _No, seriously, stop, not now._

But... She allows her mind to wander off about him for just a few seconds. And that's all she needed.

 _"How's Uriah?"_

 _"He was fine, just a scratch on his arm. He was unconscious for about five minutes before waking up... But mentally, he's a wreck. He thinks he could've caught Rita, and he blames himself for it. He's mad at himself for letting the bouncy ball smack into her and make her lose her balance."_

Tris leans against the headboard of the bed. "Well, I have a question."

Uriah is silent for a moment before nodding his head.

"I basically cried on your shoulder, something I don't like to do- nor have I ever _done-_ with anyone. I can't tell you how much that disturbs me. So I feel like it's only fair that you answer truthfully and without any constraints. Speak honestly."

She pauses. "How are you feeling?"

Uriah stills, before opening his eyes and sitting straight as his expression gets this upset look to it, then he lets out a sigh.

His face gets vulnerable. "I _feel_ like I could've maybe saved a life."

Tris opens her mouth to ask what he means when she realizes herself. Rita.

"You saved yourself, is that not enough?"

Uriah looks at her before looking down again. "She was like us. And I could've caught her if my stupid power-up... the bouncy ball... hadn't hit her and made her stagger forward."

They're both quiet for a moment, and she makes her way over to stand in front of him.

Tris frowns. "It was just meant to be."

"That doesn't even-"

She interrupts him. "I wasn't even done. Just cause there's a short pause doesn't mean I'm finished. That's obviously something you'll need to work on."

Uriah stays silent to that.

"I was _saying_ that it was meant to be. Her death happened, but in a way... it's a good thing she's gone now."

His head snaps toward her. "How could you _say_ such a thing?!"

Tris purses her lips together, silent for a few moments. "You know... She was _already_ gone."

His anger-filled glare softens a bit. "What?"

She walks backward slowly and sits at the edge of the bed again. "Rita. She was pretty much gone. She was only an innocent girl and by the end of the game, you said it yourself, she became this... this psycho. Rita almost killed you, something she would never have done in her most somber state."

Tris takes another breath. "So it's a good thing her death was fast. Because I guarantee you that if she were to have somehow lived, she wouldn't be that feeble Rita she used to be. Her mind would be like-like-" She stumbles for the word. "like a mad freak."

Uriah's eyes glaze over. "But her _body..._ I can't get it out of my head."

Tris leans back slowly, putting pressure on her hands. "I can't help you on that one. I'm still struggling with that myself, in a more deeper pain than you'll ever imagine."

She could feel Uriah's eyes on her, probably thinking that she could and would never understand what he was talking about because she hadn't physically been in front of Rita. She could _also_ feel that awful taste deep in her throat, threatening to burst out.

Then he really _does_ voice his thoughts. But Tris cuts him off before he can even get out a full sentence, _But you don't even kn-_

"Did I ever tell you how my parents died?"

Uriah freezes, obviously knowing how important the next few words she was about to utter would be. He knew she never said a word or gave hints of her past.

Why was she telling him this? What was she doing?!

"N-no. I don't think you liked mentioning them at all."

"Well, they died in a car crash."

"Wow... I'm... sorry." He lets out a breath. "Wow. Hold old were you?"

She sighs. "I was 17. The age where you thought that sometimes your parents would never understand you, and all you'd want to do was be out of their sight, or annoy them to hell."

He frowns, expression changing. "I'm sorry, Tris. Seriously. That's horrific, worse than my issues."

Tris shakes his unnecessary apology away. "We were called right away. My brother and I. To the scene. I couldn't see my mom anywhere, she was _in_ the car. Quite literally, it was that bad. I saw my dad, though. His... arm... a-and body..." She covers a hand over her mouth and tries to steady her breathing. "Rita reminded me of him."

She couldn't believe she was telling him this. But she _had_ to. She had to make him see. But there were two things eating at her. _How_ was she telling Uriah about this when it was something she could barely get out? And, she could only hope that she didn't regret it in the future.

Uriah watches her carefully, face unchanging, yet eyes weary and contemplating. "Is that why you passed out?"

She shakes her head while shrugging to show that she didn't know, or care. "Don't tell anyone of my past, I only told you, okay? But what I'm trying to say is that don't think you're alone. Because you're not. Marlene was right with what she'd said. Stop pushing us away."

His eyes widen a bit. "Don't worry, I promise... And what? What'd you say earlier?"

"About...?"

"Marlene."

She shakes her head again, allowing the smallest of smiles to play on her lips, though after mentioning her parents, her heart felt anything but.

"I've got super sonic hearing, easy as hell to hear what you two were whispering." She says, wiggling her fingers dramatically.

Uriah cracks a smile, chuckling lightly. "Nice one."

She shrugs. "I'm not."

"Not what?"

"Joking."

She keeps a straight face, stifling the humor as Uriah's eyes widen, leaning away from her.

He whispers while making a tsk sound. "The work of the Devil, totally the work of the-"

"Oh my God, Shut up!" She laughs while kicking his leg with her good foot. "Are you being a pansycake now?"

He gasps. "What?! Never! Uriah ain't no pansycake!"

"Mhmm. You're afraid of me."

He slaps at her hand, and she swats it away swiftly.

Then she _actually_ smiles. A genuine smile. Because she's just bought Uriah back.

* * *

When Tris quietly steps into the her room, Four isn't there. She blows out a huge breath she didn't know she was holding and heads toward her bed, lying down on it and groaning.

She couldn't understand what had happened earlier. She was still confused, but she was trying to let it not bother her. There were sudden problems showing up- other than the game they were in- that were making her jaded.

Tris frowns. At two things, actually.

For one, she was kind of worried about Marlene, and how Uriah would talk to her when she finally came back.

And second, Tris couldn't help but think that she'd went to Uriah, seeking comfort, and all she had done was comfort _him_ instead.

She rubs at her forehead, trying to drive away the throbbing in her head that keeps making her vision fuzzy every few moments. She was drained, all that intense talk with Uriah was giving her tension.

Tris slowly stands again and walks over to her drawer, deciding to change her clothes since she was capable of doing so. She digs through it and pulls out a sweatshirt, something she hadn't worn in so long. Momentarily, Tris shudders, she was still creeped out about the endless supply provided to them, a constant reminder that their stay in the games was not going to be a short one at all.

Bending down in a way that wouldn't put pressure on her leg, Tris opens the bottom drawer and pulls out some some dark grey joggers.

After standing again, Tris walks into the bathroom and shoves on the clothes, welcoming the soft cloth brushing against her skin and giving her a nice comfy feeling. She looks at her appearance in the mirror and grazes the tips of her fingers against her cheeks, grimacing at the way her face looks sullen.

Tentatively, she opens the bathroom cabinet and bites her tongue from making a noise. She _had_ to get used to this, but she just couldn't!

Right next to a small tube of toothpaste, was a makeup bag.

Tris can't fight away the tremble that runs through her body, and the way her heart keeps beating in the back of her throat. Whoever these people that kidnapped them were... They thought of everything.

Unsure, she grabs the bag and opens the zipper. She almost laughs right then. She knew nothing about makeup.

Grabbing a weird peach colored rectangular tube, she squints her eyes at the small letters to properly read it.

In cursive, it says, Concealer.

Tris purses her lips together as she slowly unscrews the cap and traces the dark circles under her eyes. She then uses her finger to dab it out, blending it it with her skin.

When she's done, she washes her fingers and glances at her reflection. Her eyes looked bright again, however, she could only hope that someone wouldn't come and notice that she was a complete idiot with makeup. She hoped it wasn't too obvious that she was putting on... concealer... to hide her 'sullen look'.

Tris steps away from the sink and hangs her clothes on the bathroom rack before walking out. She rakes a hand through her hair as she opens the fridge. Her hand freezes.

There's no more water bottles.

And for a second, Tris smiles. She never considered this, but things _would_ run out, right? So when everything was gone, their time here would be done.

That is, if she was still _even alive_ by then.

Tris winces at her thoughts and turns to grab a glass instead, watching the tap water fill half way into it before she closes it.

She takes about three gulps of water before setting the glass back onto the counter and walking over to the sofa.

She slumps down onto it and lets out a huge gush of air. Letting her eyes fall closed, she sinks down so the armrest acts as a pillow. Taking her arms out of her sleeves and resting them on her stomach as if she's wearing a blanket, Tris tries to get snug. Curling up, she allows the silence in the room to allow her to try and sleep.

•~•~•~•

Right when Tris feels everything around her become a fuzzy haze, and her consciousness starts to slip away, she is broken out of her sleepy trance by the sound of a lock opening.

The door knob turns and Tris forcefully opens her eyes to see a blurred Four walk into the room. She instinctively shoves her arms into her sleeves again.

Her eyes keep falling closed as if something is constantly weighing them down, and then she sees Four staring at her, mid-step. Letting her gaze slide to the door, Tris sees that he is alone.

She watches as Four softly closes the door behind him.

Sinking back into the couch, Tris turns her head toward the cushion of the sofa and lets her eyes fall closed.

After a couple of minutes she feels a dip, and looking over, Four has seated himself the opposite side of her. He takes a few sips of the juice from his bottle before setting it beside him and pulling his legs up.

Leaning against the armrest he watches Tris as well, and they sit quietly neither knowing what to do or say.

"Hey." He finally says, breaking the silence.

Tris yawns quietly and sits a bit straighter, using the back of her hands to wipe at her eyes.

She studies his appearance. His hair is slightly messy and like her, he looks tired. But other than that she can't deny the physical attractiveness he so unfairly possesses. She glances away, then back at his dark blue eyes again, wondering how it was possible for a color to hold so much intensity and hidden thoughts.

Tris pushes herself up and scoots closer to him. He abruptly tenses at the proximity as their knees bang into each other and she lightly grazes her fingers over his shoulder.

His breath is still as she tugs lightly at his sleeve.

Then she slugs his arm.

" _Ow!"_ He yelps in pain, rubbing his arm roughly and pulling away from her as much as possible, which isn't a lot considering how near she was to him.

"What the hell was that for?" He questions, eyes narrowing.

She gives him the same look back, gently cradling her curled fist because she basically bashed it into his arm. "For being the most rudest prick in the world."

"What?"

"That means you're-"

He interrupts her from the approaching string of damning she was about to gladly give him.

"No, I meant why?"

She snorts bitterly. "Because you deserved it."

He stares at her while rubbing his arm for a while, then shakes his head, exhaling.

"Okay, we're even now, happy?"

She shakes her head in disagreement.

"Now what?"

"You owe me something else."

Silence.

"Why am I apologizing?"

Tris can feel her vision become a hot white, but she keeps herself calm. "You're _apologizing_ because you made me feel like _shit_ in front of _everyone._ "

His face is difficult to make out, but the intensity of his eyes weaken slightly. "I had to do it."

"You didn't have to do _anything,_ okay?" She snaps back, putting emphasis.

"Tris, you seriously don't know how Eric is. I don't know how many times I'll have to explain it to you, but when he picks someone as a target, there's no chance against him."

His tone is like he's exasperated, but all she can focus on right now is the sentences running around like mad mice in her head.

 _Zeke_ : _"This is absurd. I never payed attention to the other team to notice he was there, Eric is such a fucking ass."_

 _"Stay here. He's got you as a target."_

Why was everyone telling her that Eric was making her a target? Why did they even care?

 _"I don't need your fucking protection. I'm capable of taking care of myself."_

Well, she _could_ take care of herself... right?

But then a final memory shoves its way into her mind, standing out from the rest.

 _Eric: "I'm not scared of you."_

 _Four: "You should be. I've done it once, I can do it again."_

Did what, exactly?

She finally looks into the blue of his shadowy eyes again, and backs away to give some distance between them.

"What did you do with him?" She demands decisively.

"With who?"

"Eric."

His eyebrows furrow. "About what?"

Tris crosses her arms. "Well, for one, he hates you more than everyone. And two, it's like he wants to agitate the hell outta you for fun, but he never pushes past some type of... limit. Why?"

He's quiet. "That's irrelevant to what-"

"No it's not. You, Zeke, and Uriah knew who he was. You did something, because you mentioned something about it earlier to him. So what'd you do?"

"I didn't do-"

"I'm not stupid, Eric seems like a guy who won't back down unless he knows he'll lose. And you've done something in the past to set that."

He blows out a frustrated breath. "Goddamn it, Tris. You're so fucking _stubborn_."

"Really? Didn't notice." She says sarcastically.

He just crosses his arms. And the way he does it shows decisiveness. He wasn't going to tell her.

"I don't like to talk about it." He finally answers, voice quiet, laced with intimidation.

She bites the inside of her cheek to keep from screaming on the top of her lungs. Fine then, she'd ask Zeke. If he'd been providing information without her asking, then the chances of him telling her if she _did_ ask were very high.

Even though she had a backup plan, Tris leans back again and looks away from Four, obviously irritated.

She could feel an angry heat in her cheeks that would just not go away.

She even considers just walking out again, but she was so tired of people right now. Sleep or isolation was the only thing on her mind.

"Remember the screen a while ago? Roommates are to be your friends, not your enemies."

Tris doesn't glance at him, she just rakes a hand through her hair in frustration and huffs. "Yeah? Well look at how _that_ is working out, Four. Perfect, right?"

He ignores her heated comment. "And the screen also said that your roommate would highly effect your performances in the games- in a good way."

She shakes her head. "Wow. How astonishing! I didn't even know you helped me a lot when I competed through my first game!"

He blows out a breath. "God Tris, I'm trying to ease the tension here, and you make it worse!"

"That's because there's no way to fix this!" Tris yells, gesturing between both of them. "We don't get along! All we do is argue. I don't like you, you don't like me, what's the point of mixing up peanut butter and ketchup when they're not even the right pairings!

She takes another big breath. "Sometimes I wish we'd never met each other because you're the most indecipherable ass in the world! Because even after all of this, you STILL haven't said a fucking five letter word that would have prevented this conversation minutes ago!"

It takes a second for her to properly register what she'd just said.

Perhaps she had hurt him. Or maybe she was hurting herself. Without realizing it, she'd just placed the first brick to create a wall between them.

But she was stubborn. And she wasn't going to be the one to back down. Maybe _now_ she should just leave?

"Sorry. _Happy now_?"

The words were rough. Cold. Meaningless. Empty.

Tris exhales, breath unstable. "Oh I'm delighted."

Anyone who had a brain would know how much of a lie that was.

Then there's a sound of a door closing, and when Tris looks up, Four is already gone.

* * *

12:30 a.m. in the morning.

She can't even sleep. She just _couldn't._

Tris was feeling disgusting. She knew she was a hypocrite right now. She'd wanted Uriah to handle Marlene properly, but here she had just ruined everything with Four.

She was just out of it. Disoriented mentally. Rest would help, a fresh mind would help, but that wouldn't come. Every time she closed her eyes she would see the word 'sorry' in swirly letters, mocking her. Gray, empty, cold, like he'd said earlier.

That's why she was seated criss-cross on Four's bed, fiddling with the pockets of her sweatshirt and trying to figure out what she'd say to at least ease the agitation between them.

She was just about to go mental from the suspenseful waiting when she shoves on her gladiator sandals and exits the room with her phone and key safely inside of her damp and tight grip.

Blinded through her thoughts, she puts one foot in front of the other through the halls until she ends up at a door. Without bothering to register where she was, she shoves it open and keeps walking.

The room she enters is dark, chilled, lifeless. Except for her quiet steps echoing throughout the place, there was no sound.

Tris turns on her phone and looks for a torch or flashlight app, but finds none. She decides to just hold her horrible phone light in front of her when she notices something black in front of her.

The black table to be exact.

Why was she in the cafeteria?

Tris traces her steps back and flicks on a light switch. She fights back the urge to hiss as her eyes fight to adjust to the bright florescent lights.

She walks back over to the table and sits down on top of it, completely abandoning the seats.

She just _randomly_ walked into the cafeteria, there must be a reason?

Tris brings her knees up to her chest and wraps her arms around them, hanging her head down.

Her next breath is shaky, and it takes only a second for the tears to prickle at the corner of her eyes.

But there was no way she was going to let them fall. She'd had enough of crying. Tris sometimes wished that she was still that girl before the games. The girl who never cried. The girl who never screamed or got scared or became vulnerable.

The lights suddenly go out and she is plunged into darkness.

Her breathing stops. A certain memory flashes before her, from the day she was getting kidnapped. _**Lights Out ;)**_ it had said.

"You shouldn't be here."

A loud yet cautionary voice.

Tris's head snaps up, and she holds in her scream. She'd been so consumed into her thoughts that she hadn't noticed the cafeteria door open or the slender fingers that had flicked off the switch.

Her heart was beating against her chest so hard as if someone were banging a stick onto her body, but she manages to get out a few words.

"And neither should you."

She scrambles with her phone and points the dim light over to the dark outline of a body near the door.

The person in front of her... she was beautiful. Her hair was a soft chocolate brown, her eyes were a warm hazel, and her body structure was flawless. Tris had never felt so jealous.

The girl shrugs and plays with the strings of her hoodie. "I've come here every night. This is _your_ first time though."

Tris purses her lips together. There was a battle in her head, telling her to either flee or talk.

Tris finally shrugs. "Who are you?"

Her laugh is sharp but purely angelic. "Well I'm obviously your enemy."

Tris squints her eyes at the color of her hoodie and bites the inside of her cheek as she realizes that it is blue.

"I'm Myra." She continues.

 _Myra. Myra. Sounds familiar..._

 _Ah, Edward and Myra. The PDA couple._

"I'm-"

"Tris. Yes, I know. Everyone knows. Who doesn't?"

Tris isn't sure why her blood becomes cold at that. Everyone knew her? She never wanted to attract so much attention, and here Myra was, basically saying that everyone in Group A knew who she was.

 _He's got you as a target. He's got you as a target. He's got you as a target._

Tris winces. Four was right, but being given _actual_ evidence only made everything feel worse.

She wipes her eyes with the back of her free hand and lets out a disheartened puff.

"Are you alright?"

Tris almost forgot she was there. "Could be better, I guess. It's just... people can be confusing."

Myra's lips sink into a frown.. "Yes. They can be. I completely understand."

Tris stiffens abruptly. What the hell was she even _doing_ talking to her enemy?! She couldn't become close with anyone she would have to kill later!

Tris pushes herself off the table and begins walking toward the door. Myra is about to follow when Tris holds up a hand.

"Stop. We shouldn't be seen together. Talking to you was probably a mistake, I should've ran when I had the chance."

Myra freezes, looking a bit taken back. "Oh..."

Tris opens the door and takes a step out before momentarily pausing.

Think. Think. Maybe meeting Myra was a good thing... There had to be a reason she came to the cafeteria, was this it?

Tris purses her lips together. For goodness sake, could anything be any more obvious?! She was talking to a girl from Group A.

Tris lets go of the door handle and turns around, suddenly handing Myra her phone. "Add your number."

She furrows her eyebrows together but does as she's told.

A few seconds later they've traded numbers and Tris is making her way back to her room. After everything that had occurred in the last few hours, this was definitely a good highlight.

Myra would come in handy for the future.

* * *

When Tris glances at her phone it's about 1:16 a.m. She was extremely tired.

Slipping the key into the key hole, she gives the knob a turn and steps into the dark room. The room was dimly lit, but otherwise she didn't have to even look at Four's bed to know that he was probably sleeping.

Tris throws her phone onto her bed and walks into the bathroom. She washes off the concealer she'd worn earlier and sighs, noticing that her dark circles were slightly lighter. To get rid of them, she'd have to sleep alright.

Tris ties her hair into a high and careless bun before ripping off her sweatshirt, leaving her in a tight black tank top and her joggers. Lightly tracing the tattoo on her collarbone, she closes her eyes for a second. As her fingers grazed over each crow, she imagined the face of each member of her family. Then she gets to the numbers engraved into her skin and is slapped across the face with reality.

Blowing a few strand hairs away from her face, Tris makes her way over to the sink and gets a glass of water. It was refreshing to be drinking it. She imagines that as the water slips down her throat, so do her troubles. When she'd wake up in the morning, she and Four would be able to talk without biting at each other's heads.

But one could dream.

Tris slowly climbs onto her bed and curls up into a fetus position under the blanket. She watches Four who has an arm draped over his face, and the other across his chest with his fingers curled tightly. His breaths are quiet like the person he was. The guy who could walk without making a single sound.

Not knowing what gets her up, Tris walks over to him and slowly grabs his hand. Lightly, she skims her fingers over his rough knuckles, surprised at the warmth she feels from them. Grabbing at his curled fist, she slowly opens each finger so that now, his fingers were open and resting lightly on his stomach.

But what would it feel like to be able to slip her hand under his shirt? To feel his hard yet smooth stomach. To feel the muscles and the way he'd inhale a sharp breath as her icy fingers would trail against his warm body?

Tris jumps back as she realizes that she'd been drawing random circles onto his chest. She was so fucking mental. This guy was asleep and she was thinking of touching him.

She backs away and holds her arms out in front of her as if they were burned, she was ashamed of herself.

 _Come on, you literally said it yourself. You. Don't. like. Him._

Slipping under her blanket, she shuts her eyes and wills for herself to sleep. She needed to wake up with a fresh mentality, this was just pure proof about what would happen if she didn't sleep in a long time- no self control.

But even when her body starts to feel light and the world around her begins to peacefully slip away, the beautiful color of a certain shade of blue eyes is fresh in her mind.

After a long time of just blackness or nightmares, it was one of the first dreams she welcomed with open arms.

* * *

 _ **A/N- Gonna end it here for now. I'm so sorry, I have no clue why this chapter was horrible! I don't know, I kept trying to write this chapter, but it kept coming out crappy, so I just finally decided to post this in hopes of you guys liking it, but if it's shitty, I understand, I didn't get why this chapter was hard to write either!**_

 _ **Anyway, what's up? Been a while, sorry about that!**_

 _ **WE REACHED A BIT OVER 100 REVIEWS! HOLY SHAYYAATT! *clears throat* I'd like to thank my mom, my dad, my family, my fanfiction family, to the people who always-**_

 ** _Aweh, Lmaoo, jk. :)_**

 _ **THANK YOU FOR REVIEWING I LOVE READING EVERYONE'S REVIEWS THEY'RE SO NICE AND COOL AND GAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH! I'M SERIOUS! IF ANY OF U HAVE STORIES THEN U UNDERSTAND THE EXCITEMENT AND THRILL OF FINDING OUT U HAVE REVIEWS!**_

 ** _Follow_** _ **? Fave? Review? Whatever you want, sorry if I made any mistakes! I'm bad at editing! Hopefully you all were**_ **at least** _ **satisfied with this!**_

 _ **And sheez, it's getting cold out in Chicago! Damn! I hate it! Fall is getting bad now!**_

 _ **(BTW I almost wrote 6,000 words this chapter. I feel so happy, this story is growing, dayumm)**_

 _ **Hmm.. There's nothing else I can think of... guess I'll mention anything later. Anyway, SEE YA LATER, LOVE YOU ALL, BYE!**_

 _ **~divergentFREAK24**_


	16. Chapter 16

**_A/N- The general idea of this chapter was bought to you by..._** ** _Divergentshadowhunter02! So holy shit, thank this person for reading my story and coming up with an idea for me so I could get an update out for you guys, and check out her stories if ya never did before!_**

* * *

 _A field with bright green grass everywhere. The sky is an incredible blue._

 _Tris inhales sharply. No. Black._

 _Black?_

 _Then she realizes why. There are black birds flying everywhere, and one slowly swoops down to Tris's eye level._

 _She cautiously sticks out a hand. "H-Hi. Good bird."_

 _It softly pecks at her palm. Then harder._

 _"Ow! The fuck? Shoo!" She gasps while cradling her curled fist to her chest. It stings and she can imagine the blood that must be gathering._

 _Tris wipes her hand on her thigh before realizing that there were squawks sounding from around her, louder every second._

 _Then it hits her like a bullet searing into her chest._

 _"Holy mother of God those are crows. A lot of them." Tris says, voice bitter._

 _She barely has time to duck before they all swoop down over to her, little shrilling screams that freak the hell out of her. She only starts screaming as well when they begin to peck at her flesh and bite._

 _"Get off get off get off me!" She repeatedly yells while trying to punch them off her body. She gets a few off, but there are too much and she drops to the ground as they continue to peck her to death._

 _It was hurting so bad, the pain was incredibly real._

 _Real?_

 _This is not real- Tris declares to herself in realization._

 _Tris feels around her. A dream, it's a fucking dream, control it. She wills for a weapon to show up._

 _When her fingers curl around one she is surprised at the feel of cold metal. She considered a safe weapon a gun?_

 _Not even caring anymore, Tris begins to shoot randomly and slowly feels the cries of the crows lessen. Thumps sound from around her as dead bodies fall and she tries to drown out the death that's going on until finally, it's quiet._

 _The sky is a clear baby blue, the grass that was once a bright green was now covered with specks of black._

 _She traces the ravens on her collar bone as she inspects her surroundings, and her tattoo begins to sting._

When Tris finally wakes up she shoots up into a sitting position and gasps for breath.

She was mildly sweating, but it was the least of her problems compared to what she just saw. Did she really just control her own dream? How'd she summon a gun?

 _And why does my tattoo hurt?_ She thinks as she runs a finger over the ravens. It didn't hurt, it just felt like someone was pressing something hot on her skin.

Tris wipes at her bleary eyes as she gets out of the bed and turns on the light, slightly wincing as her vision fights to adjust. However, she was too disturbed to be in the dark right now. She goes back to grab her phone and shakes her head as she realizes the time is 7 am. She'd slept for what? 5 hours?

She looks to her right to find that Four was not in his bed. But there's a white note on the pillow.

Tris walks the short distance to his clean bed and unfolds the paper, quickly scanning the words that are written in his handwriting.

 _ **Be back in a few. Sandwich on counter for you. -4**_

She purses her lips at that. He made breakfast for her? At 7 in the morning? How'd he even know she'd wake up now?

Tris frowns and runs a thumb over the ink, sucking in a breath at the way it clearly smears.

This was recent.

She shakes her head and makes her way over to the counter. She rolls her eyes as she realizes that it's a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Tris rips off a piece and chews slowly, surprised that it was still soft.

He must've woken up and left seconds before she did.

She wipes at her face and rushes to finish the sandwich. All that horror with that nightmare had gotten her muscles tensed up. In fact, what did it mean? She'd heard somewhere a while ago that dreams sometimes had meaning to them. For example, if you got a dream where you ended up dying, that meant you'd live a long life.

Of course though, it depends on what you believed in. Like, superstitions, you believe in the fact that a black cat crossing your path meant bad luck if you passed it.

Tris shoves the last bit of the crust into her mouth before running off into the bathroom and changing into some shorts and a hoodie. She tosses her slightly damp and sweaty clothes under her bed before putting on her gladiator sandals. She was seriously starting to get tired of those. Some actual shoes or her comfortable combat boots would really be helpful.

Tris walks over to the counter to get some water after zipping up her sandals. Instead of using a glass for a drink, she crouches in front of the trash. She didn't even care if it was gross or unhealthy, she wanted to bring the water with her.

After finding an empty bottle she grabs it and swiftly cleans it out before filling in some cool water and popping ice into it.

Tris glances at Four's bed again. It was getting hard to properly talk to him, she felt as though she couldn't trust him as easily as anyone else like Uriah.

Telling him about her mom and dad's death was very tempting. He probably thought she was an innocent soul- when in reality she'd killed her own parents.

Maybe that's why it was hard to tell him. He was the only one who said things about her that no one else had. He was the only one that made her feel extremely special, so ruining that was just beyond stupid.

... Actually... It wasn't stupid.

If anything now, she seriously did not deserve him and the things he called or said to her. Maybe that dream really was a sign about _that_? Feeling more guilty than ever, she decides to finally spill the beans. It was the least she could do.

She was the reason for her parent's death, so why should she get happiness when she had ended theirs?

After getting her key and phone she steps out of the room to find Four.

Tris scrolls through the contacts in her phone as she walks, and she pauses when she gets to Tori's number.

How long had it been since she saw her?

It didn't matter, Tris didn't want to lay her eyes on a traitor any time soon. The only good thing about Tori was how she worked in the infirmary.

Tris continues to scroll through the contacts and again, pauses, this time on Myra.

She couldn't tell if asking for her number was just genius or not. Keeping the number meant a secret way to keep in touch with Group A, but it was risky as fuck to keep because 'cheating with the opposite team results in immediate disqualification.'

She exits the contacts and is about to stuff it into the pocket of her hoodie when instead, her phone goes flying out of her grasp as she bumps into someone.

Four.

Tris winces at the loud smack the phone makes as it hits the ground and slides straight into the wall.

They stand in silence, both just staring at each other, and then the phone, not knowing what to do.

"Shit, did it crack?" He finally speaks before walking over and scooping the phone off the ground.

Tris glances at the ground and also notices that she'd dropped her water bottle. She's about to pick it up when her attention is caught by Four.

When he turns it over, they both instinctively let out an exhale of relief at the sight of the smooth screen. He hands it to her and she slips it into her pocket.

Tris stuffs her hands deep into the back pockets of her shorts and shifts from one foot to the other, deciding to completely ignore the water bottle that was rolling away from them.

"Why'd you leave?" She decides to start.

He rubs the back of his neck briefly before meeting her gaze. "Just went out to think."

"Then how'd you know I'd wake up right now?"

Four frowns. "I didn't. I'd only put a sandwich and note there just in case you _did_ end up waking up, but if you didn't I would've eaten it myself and thrown the note away."

Tris bites the inside of her cheek, trying to get her thoughts organized when she is interrupted suddenly.

"Look, Tris, I walked out to think, and I really need to tell you something. It's been on my mind for about a week now and I-"

It clicks in her mind instantly- The reason why she was here looking for _him_ in the first place was to tell him the truth.

" _I_ have to tell _you_ something that's hella important and it can't wait." She rudely cuts off, completely ignoring Four.

He pauses. "If it's an apology, then seriously, it's okay. I was talking about-"

Tris shakes her head, then nods it. "Well, that too, I'm sorry for being a fucking jerk yesterday. But I have to say something else that's-"

"Wait, Tris, seriously, I just have to-"

No no no.

" _Shut up!"_ Tris retorts, suddenly a nervous wreck. "Let me just tell you before I lose the nerve, _please_!"

Four gives her a troubled look, obviously wanting and needing to speak first, but then he just nods.

Tris lets out a shaky breath and leans against the wall behind her.

"Look, I've been delaying this for such a long time. I need to get it out, okay?"

Four opens his mouth to speak but then changes his mind and moves to stand next to her.

"Fine, go ahead. You first then."

She takes one last breath and takes in the way his eyes stare at hers before closing them. She slides to the floor, keeping the image of his blue eyes in her mind. The way they looked at her before they knew the truth.

Then she begins to reveal.

* * *

 _"Caleb, I will fucking murder you if you mess my hair up!" I declare, daring him to keep flicking at the curls cascading over my shoulders._

 _"Why?" He laughs._

 _"Because mom spent a long time on it. And I'll tell her if you touch it again." I smirk._

 _He immediately stops and sits back onto the chair. "Whatever."_

 _I smooth my dark blue dress over my legs and cross my legs. It was a huge birthday party. Kids ran around while playing tag, adults enjoyed the drinks served around, and the birthday girl was soon to come._

 _Tris feels a tap on her shoulder._

 _"Hey, Tessa, What's up? Isn't it lovely here?" I greet._

 _She smiles. "Of course. But are you ready? We're supposed to be rehearsing for the pictures one last time!"_

 _And then it hit me._

 _"Holy shit! Tessa, I forgot my freaking white shirt! The one we all were supposed to wear to match!"_

 _She frowns. "Oh! Time is running up, we'll just have you stand in the middle of everyone so it looks like you were meant to stand out with your blue dress while everyone else has changed into the shirts."_

 _I shake my head. "That's crazy! Everyone knows that little Elia is the birthday girl, she's supposed to stick out not me! And she's turning eleven! Why would I be sticking out when she's going to turn into..."_

 _"An 'eleventeen year old'?" She asks, snorting and making emphasis using her fingers._

 _I blush. "Well, yeah, don't you remember how excited she was to learn she was becoming an eleventeen?!"_

 _"But there's 10 minutes, Beatrice."_

 _I wave her warning away. "That's fine. That's a load of time. Lemme ask my mom if I can go and drive the car, it'll take me way less than 10 minutes to get my shirt."_

 _She nods and turns to leave._

 _"Wait!"_

 _She looks back at me._

 _"I told you a gazillion times to call me Tris!"_

 _She laughs lightly and turns away again. "See you soon, Tris."_

 _I grab Caleb's sleeve. "Did you hear?"_

 _He nods. "Yeah, Bea, just go already. Mom is at the porch."_

 _I roll my eyes and nod. "Okay."_

 _I run through the little crowds of kids gathered everywhere playing hand games and finally spot my mom. She was pretty today, and I almost turned to leave them alone when I noticed dad's arms wrapped around her waist, slowly moving her to the music playing in the party._

 _The way they were looking at each other today was rare. Affection was something they didn't really show in public except at home, however obviously today was an exception._

 _I suddenly remember the shirt and run over to them. "Mom!"_

 _She breaks eye contact with dad and looks over at me, giving me a warm smile. "Hm?"_

 _"Mom, I forgot my white shirt, the one we need for the pictures! Can I go drive quickly and-"_

 _"-Beatrice, how could you forget? I reminded you three times."_

 _I smile sheepishly. "I was playing Minecraft! I just got distracted!"_

 _Dad laughs. "I know right, the new update is just out of this world, Bea, did you see-"_

 _"Andrew!" Mom exclaims._

 _He shrinks away from her but still keeps his arms loosely wrapped around her. "Sorry, Nat."_

 _"Beatrice, stay here. I'll go with your father and we'll get the shirt. It's next to your computer I assume?"_

 _I shrug. "Um... yeah... I hung it on the back of my chair before I started playing."_

 _She pats my head and pulls at dad's arm. "Let's get going then. It'll take us 5 minutes."_

 _He laughs at her urge to leave right then and ends up kissing her lips. I take that as a sign to leave._

"Little did I know that their playful affection would be my last memory of them." Tris says shakily.

She glances at Four who's staring at her trembling hands with a tense expression.

 _I make my way back over to Caleb and notice Susan and Robert beside him._

 _"Hey Susan!" I interrupt. "Hey Robert."_

 _"Hello Bea." They both greet._

 _"Tris."_

 _"What_ _?" Susan asks._

 _"Call me Tris, remember?"_

 _Robert and Susan roll their eyes._

 _"They're getting the shirt?" Caleb asks._

 _I nod. "Yeah, mom and dad are both going. Mom wouldn't let me get it myself."_

 _He nods while chuckling knowing very well how mom must've reacted and goes back to talking to Susan. Robert comes up to stand beside me._

"This guy. He's had a crush on me for so long, but I just didn't like him in that way. I couldn't. Which was why I always acted oblivious to his attempts." Tris exhales tiredly.

 _"Oh goodness, here they go again." Robert groans as we both watch the way Susan and Caleb politely flirt with each other. "How do they even tease each other politely? That doesn't make the least bit of sense."_

 _I shrug with a laugh. "My brother is just a huge chicken I tell you. If we weren't raised like we were I swear he'd be all obsessed with her right now like he is with his books."_

 _Robert laughs along with me. "Of course."_

 _I grab the liter of coke from the middle of the table and unscrew the cap._

 _"Hold the cup for me?"_

 _Robert holds the plastic cup steady as I pour the fizzy drink into the glass. I fill it right until the middle before stopping._

 _I drink from the cup as time passes, greeting everyone as they make hilarious jokes and sit around Caleb and I. Even Elia finally comes out of the house looking adorable with her purple dress that perfectly mixed with her short black hair. She wasn't wearing her glasses, so that toned down the nerdiness. Elia was an incredibly intelligent girl._

 _And then I finally felt a vibration in my purse. I quickly get up and walk a few steps away from the table from the large group of people gathered around. I pick up the call without looking at the caller ID._

 _"Who is it? Mom, is it you? Did you bring the shirt that I forgot?" I asked on the phone, a bit breathlessly from laughing so hard with my group of friends._

 _I fiddled with the blue napkin near me, smiling as everyone ran around in a good mood, passing out cake and coke for everyone at the birthday party._

 _"Oh, my name is Mary. I assume I'm using your mother's phone right now?" An unidentifiable woman answers, her voice polite and smooth._

 _"Uh. Okay, yeah you are, where's my mom? Is she with you?" I pried, a bit confused._

 _"Yes, I am so sorry. But... She's... been in a very severe car accident. And there's a man next to her, I think your father? I'm using her phone to contact any family members, and I'm guessing you're her daugh-"_

 _"TRIS!" Someone yells as my body rushes to meet the ground._

 _I can usually tell whenever something is genuinely authentic. And this lady's voice with whatever she was telling me, was. genuinely. authentic._

 _I just wished and hoped that it wasn't true either way._

 _I push his hands away and grab my phone. I ignore the sudden cries of confusion and concern as I feel the tears stream down my face. Pulling Caleb with me, I kick off my heels and run._

 _"Bea? Bea talk to me!" He repeats over and over, but I'm busy trying to get that lady on the line again._

 _One ring. Two rings. She picks up. "Yes, honey? I'm so sor-"_

 _"Where?"_

 _She doesn't waste a second, already sensing my hysteric urgency. "I can't see the street name, but it's literally right in front of a coffee shop?"_

 _I let out another whimper as I pull Caleb past a corner. I knew that shop. Dad and I would go there whenever it was cold outside and Caleb and mom went out. It was a four-way road split._

 _"Please, tell me this isn't real." I whisper to myself, though the woman on the line picks it up._

 _"Oh honey, I cannot tell you how sorry I am, but it is."_

 _I hang up._

 _"Beatrice!" He uses my full name. "Where the hell are we going? What's going on?!"_

 _But his answer is given when we turn the curb and are met with the most horrible accident I've ever laid eyes on. Five different cars are scattered around the place, however, only two are looking fatal with pooling blood._

 _I scream as one of those fatal ones I recognize is a certain gray car. Our car._

 _And it was upside down._

 _"NO!" A loud sob erupts from deep inside me, and I repeat the word continuously like a mantra as I run past all the police and firefighters and paramedics trying to block the scene._

 _Footsteps are right behind me, and I assume they are Caleb because two strong arms hold me back from jumping into the pile of glass, all stained with red or pink._

 _Blood._

 _Then I see his arm. Dad's arm. Sticking through the window along with the fractured glass around him. It's raw and a reddish pink. It's completely lifeless._

 _The arm that used to pick me up. The arm that'd buy me whatever I wanted. The arm that I used to hold. The arm that was wrapped around my mom and pulling her to the music of a certain party about 8 minutes ago._

 _I did this. I sent them back. I put them in this position._

 _"It's my fault, It's my fault." I weep over and over again as I drop to my knees. My heart felt like it would explode and rip out of my chest._

 _"Hey! Kid! Your knees and feet! They're getting glass stuck in'em." A man calls as he tries to get to me but I ignore him and pull Caleb with me. Straight through the yellow caution tape and right next to the car._

 _I can't see anything, Just pieces of crushed metal._

 _Then Caleb lets out an excruciating groan and I look over to see what he's looking at._

 _There's just a small hole. Small, but big enough to notice what Caleb was agonizing over._

 _Looking past the blood and bones, I can see that Dad's other arm was wrapped firmly around something. Or someone._

 _My mom's body._

 _And she was doing the exact same thing._

 _In those last moments of their lives- they tried to protect each other- so both of them ended up dying. They both completely missed the airbags or any other type of protection that could've kept themselves alive because they had tried to help each other before their self._

 _This is what happens when you're selfless._

 _And it just so happened to prove that I, Beatrice Prior, was the most_ selfish _being that ever walked on the face of the earth._

 _"I'm so sorry Caleb." I snivel, trying to speak past an incoming sob. "It's my fault. I can't believe it."_

 _He says something but I can't even hear because we were then being roughly separated by the paramedics, injecting us both with something that completely knocked us out cold._

* * *

" _Tris-_ " And that tone he uses is filled with so much concern and pain that she didn't deserve to hear it.

Tris buries her head into her knees and lets out a deep and searing sob of complete misery, interrupting his sentence from going any further than it had.

"Don't you f-fucking understand?! I asked for the goddamn shirt that wasn't _that important_ but because of my stubbornness they w-went and they got killed!" Tris weeps. "I did it, It's my fucking fault and they didn't deserve it at all!"

Tris can feel a roaring in her ears from the blood rushing pass, and she just wants it to leave.

A warm hand softly grazes at her shoulder but she immediately rips away before he touches her anymore.

"No! Don't touch me! Why do you even _want_ to comfort a shitty piece of trash like me?!" Tris blubbers, "Did you not even hear what I said? I freaking ended their happy lives!"

"Tris, listen to yourself! You didn't end their lives, they just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, it's nowhere near your fault!" He tries to tell her, but she shakes her head.

Tris tries to stifle her sobs but fails. "If I had just." She pauses and takes another shaky breath. "If I had just gone myself, none of it would have happened."

Four captures her body in his arms before she can get away this time. "Tris, just calm down and-"

"What do you mean?! I can't!" She yells as she tries to wiggle out of his grasp, but he just pulls her close and she, defeated, slumps against him.

"How are you even looking at me? How are you touching me?" Tris whimpers, but his arms tighten around her and though she wants to pull away she can't deny the comforting waves radiating off his body.

"Because what happened isn't your fault and if anything, you shouldn't be around _me._ " He finally answers gently after a pause of silence.

Tris just continues to let out little quiet whimpers of guilt and she closes her eyes at the comfort of Four.

It stays like that for what feels like days before Tris can finally breath properly.

Tris opens her eyes again and suddenly feels like she's been punched in the gut.

She was alone.

He left her.

Tris should have known. She was expecting him to leave anyway, but there was this little hopeful stubborn voice in her head that had told her Four would stay. But of course he didn't, she was a fucking monster.

Tris pushes herself up onto her shaky knees before suddenly hearing footsteps.

"Shh, sit down." He tells her as he walks close.

Then she feels stupid as he helps her sit back down. Four had only been fetching the water bottle she'd dropped earlier.

He unscrews the cap and smiles sadly at her as she takes it from his grasp. Taking a few sips, she hands it back to him and leans her head against the wall, feeling drained from having cried so much.

"Are you feeling okay?" He asks as he brushes his thumb against her cheek and puffy eyes to get rid of the tears.

Tris naturally leans into the palm of his hand, and he tenses before gently stroking her cheek.

"No. I'm not."

He removes his palm from her face and Tris almost frowns at the coldness that she suddenly feels. He helps her stand and steps closer, brushing a light kiss on her forehead.

Then he pulls away as they hear sudden footsteps walking down the hall.

"Because I want to throw some knives!" Uriah says with sass in his voice.

Someone snorts. Marlene. "You just wanna show off again, couldn't we eat first and then come here?"

"Well, no, that's because none of us know how to cook except Tris and her food is amazing compared to the packaged food." He answers.

Tris feels a small smile curl on her lips. They were getting along well.

"I hate to admit that it's true. And you'd think all of us here would know how to cook wouldn't you?"

Their voices disappear down the hall as they make a turn to get to the training room.

Tris takes another step back and furiously wipes at her eyes. Her voice was slightly on the raspy side as she spoke. "Guess I'll be making breakfast instead of sleeping again."

His chuckle is deep and genuine, and Tris feels a pleasurable warmth fill her insides at the fact that she made him laugh.

"So do I look like I've been crying?" She asks as she rubs at her cheeks roughly.

"Hmm." He leans in close, narrowing his eyes like he's inspecting her face. A smile tugs at the corner of his mouth. Then even closer, so that she would be breathing the same air—if she could remember to breathe.

"No, Tris," he says. A more serious look replaces his smile as he adds, "You look tough as nails."

She looks away to hide her small smile, and pulls away from the proximity. They both begin to walk back over to their room, and that's when a memory hits her.

A long time ago, Caleb read her a book about symbols.

And in Europe, the raven meant sadness, loss and death.

Her dream meant sadness, loss and death.

Just earlier she had grieved to Four about her loss. About her sadness. About two deaths.

When she was getting her tattoo of ravens, she'd had a general thought about it.

Slightly shuddering from the sudden realization, she leans toward Four and is surprised to feel his hand brush against hers. Fingers curl around her own, and she feels a light squeeze as they walk further down the hall.

When she glances at him, he wasn't looking at her at all, but she caught the smile tugging at his lips, mildly amused.

* * *

 _ **A/N- So, Tris's past has been properly cleared out. What do you think, is she right with feeling like it's her fault or no? Cuz if it was ME I'd definitely think it was my fault.**_

 _ **It's been like, 19 or 20 days since I've updated. And I'm so sorry. I had the worst writers block ever. If you read the beginning, then you know that it was so bad and I was so incapable of writing a new chapter that I had to ask someone to help me. (Thank you so fucking much, btw)**_

 _ **I didn't even wanna put an author's note to tell you guys anything because um, well, I absolutely hate when an author does that. I seriously cannot and do not know how to express how sorry I am, I feel really shitty but yeah, I hope you enjoyed this chapter?**_

 _ **I'm seriously so sorry, though, I hope I never have a writers block that bad again! I would sit on the computers for like, an hour each day and then come up with NOTHING! It was SO BAD.**_

 ** _ALSO, sorry that this chapter wasn't as long as I always write it, it's about like, 4,900 words, I usually write more than 5,000 words for a chapter._**

 _ **Please follow, fave, review if you already haven't! And yeah, I put Fourtris for u guys because I felt really bad for not updating in so long. And if there's grammatical errors, sorry, I literally JUST finished and I wanted to post the chapter right away.**_

 _ **Anyway, BYE! I. LOVE. YOU. ALL. Remember to review! Don't stay mad at me forever! :'(**_


	17. Chapter 17

Tris was just returning to her room right after stopping by everyone's place to give pancakes when she feels a slight buzzing in her back pocket. She reaches for her phone and unlocks the screen.

She'd received a text.

TORI- **I need you and the girls to come to my room.**

Tris pauses after she reads the message.

TRIS- **Why?**

She's about to slip her phone back into her pocket when the screen lights up.

TORI- **Something important. Bring the girls, hurry.**

Tris begins to turn toward the infirmary room. She didn't trust Tori as much as she used to. For some reason, Tris felt this weird urge of responsibility and protection, she didn't want her friends going somewhere she wasn't sure about.

It was a weird feeling, but it felt meaningful enough to convince her it was a bad idea, so Tris texts back.

TRIS- **I'm coming alone, I'll bring the girls later, I think they're still asleep.**

TORI- **Okay, just hurry.**

She frowns at the urgency Tori portrays in her messages. _What could possibly be that important?_ Tris thinks, almost sighing to herself.

Tris digs her hands deep into the pockets of her hoodie and walks the familiar route to the infirmary. As she does so, her stomach growls slightly.

She could almost slap herself. After making pancakes and delivering it to everyone's rooms, she completely forgot to eat some herself. She brushes the thoughts of her hunger away and turns around a corner.

Now that she was finally alone though, Tris feels her eyes tear up and her head become heavy with intensity. She'd cried herself out to Four, but not completely. He was a comforting person, but she didn't want to just completely look like some sissy crybaby- so she'd managed to stop and calm herself down.

She was still bottled up inside with feelings she didn't think she could let out in front of anyone. If anything, she was almost back to the start. She didn't care who told her what happened about her parents was not her fault, she'd always feel guilty for it. Whether it be Tori, Caleb, Four, or anyone else, she didn't give a shit about their opinions because she knew she was right.

Maybe that was too harsh... But still, she just felt so shameful and undeserving of living.

Did she feel at least a teeny bit guilty for making it seem like she _actually_ believed what Four had said? Maybe. She believed somewhat of what he said- not everything.

It's not like anyone could understand her anyway.

When she sees the familiar dark door Tris raises her curled fist to knock, however it swings open before she can even move her arm any more than she already had.

"Ah, you're here." Tori states while ushering Tris into the room.

As Tori closes the door, Tris stays standing next to it while Tori walks to the back of the room to shuffle through some drawers.

"So why am I here?" she asks while leaning against the wall.

Tori looks up briefly before continuing her search for something. "I need to ask a couple of important questions and then I guess you can go and fetch the other girls."

Tris nods slowly and lets her gaze wander around the room as she waits for the 'questioning' to begin.

Finally she hears a soft click of a pen and looks up to see Tori walking back over to Tris with a clipboard.

She can't stop the snort that makes it her. "What, are we doing some type of psychological therapy?"

"Yes my little adorable sweetie pie, tell me all of your problems."

It takes her a second to realize that Tori was being sarcastic.

"Just answer the freaking questions and then you can leave." Tori sighs.

Tris crosses her arms and nods.

"Okay, let's see... When do you usually get your menstrual cycles?"

Such a casual tone.

Tris straightens. _Not what I was expecting..._

She shifts uncomfortably, and the heat rises in her cheeks before she can stop it.

She was never one to talk about her personal issues because anything within this topic just made her feel so uncomfortable. "Excuse me?"

"Your period. When do you get your _period_?" Tori asks again with annoyance traced into her voice. She'd even spoke slowly as if she was talking to a 5 year old.

That tone was enough to get Tris back into her senses. "Um... Usually the 8th or 9th."

The next part Tori mumbles, and Tris has to literally stop breathing to hear what she was saying, " _Alright, so we still have a while, phew, that's good_."

"What do you mean 'we still have a while?' For what?"

Tori's eyebrows twitch in surprise at the fact that Tris heard what she'd said. "Oh, nothing, come over here now."

After what just happened? Tris was feeling a bit suspicious as she made her way over. "What are you even collecting this information for?"

Tori reaches into her back pocket and sets her clipboard next to her.

Then Tris feels her body suddenly being flung onto the couch where Tori had been sitting on less than 2 seconds ago, and she gasps as she feels it shake from the hard impact.

As Tori raises Tris's shirt a bit, her voice finally works after her momentary stupor. " _Tori!_ "

She shrieks again as without warning, Tori jabs a needle into her waist.

"What the fuck, _GET OFF ME_!" Tris screams, trying to shove Tori away from her, but at that moment she is overpowered by the position she was in.

" _What are you doing_?!" Tris shrills, her voice cracking as a wave of agony travels through her. The pain was ten times worse than getting a blood test done.

Her lower body parts were beginning to feel numb.

Then Tori is finally pulling away, having successfully emptied out the contents of the unknown liquid.

Tris slumps against the couch, breath unstable as she tries to regain her posture.

"What the hell did you do?" Tris asks again, well aware that her voice was laced with venom.

Tori swipes a strand of black hair away from her own face. "It was necessary for the games."

She tosses the empty needle into the trash and then walks back over to Tris, crouching beside her. Her voice was no louder than a whisper.

"Don't freak out, you won't be having your menstrual cycle this month."

Tris sucks in a breath. "Wait, what?"

Tori repeats the sentence.

"That is abnormal!" Tris yells.

Tori ignores her. "Anyway, you'll feel the usual cramps- but no blood."

"But what was in that? It hurts!" Tris snaps weakly, using the cushions to push herself up. She almost topples over, so she slowly sinks back into the sofa again.

"It's temporary. Just for half an hour."

"You could've told me instead of going fucking mental! What the crap is wrong with you?!"

Just then, the door opens and in comes walking, Christina.

"What? Tris? What are you doing here?" She asks confused.

Tris feels her eyebrows furrow. "Me? What are _you_ doing?"

Christina's face suddenly becomes accusing. "Hey, what the hell did you put in those pancakes, Tris?! My stomach has been hurting for the past 20 minutes nonstop! I thought your cooking skills were amazing but I guess I was wrong."

Tris is taken aback by the sudden attitude she was receiving from someone that was usually so optimistic. "Um, Christina-"

"And I even asked Will about it, but he told me to just go see Tori because maybe-"

"- _Christina_ -"

"Hey, like, are you trying to give me food poisoning or-"

" _CHRISTINA_!"

Finally, she stops complaining.

"Stop freaking blaming my cooking skills. I'm pretty sure you're getting your time of the month." Tris informs, successfully fighting off a blush.

Christina's face turns from annoyed to completely flustered and embarrassed in seconds.

"What?! Holy shit, Tris, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"It's fine, Christina."

"Wait, you get your period on the 1st?" Tori suddenly interrupts. Tris had almost forgotten she was standing there.

Christina shrugs. "Yeah, 1st or 2nd. But I didn't get it... yet."

Tori's eyes widen. "Come here."

When Christina gets close, Tori pulls out another needle from her pocket. "I'm going to inject this into you, okay?"

Christina's eyes widen. "Um, why?"

"It's so you don't get blood, dammit! You need to be able to move as much as you can without any disturbances in the games. So just come closer."

When Christina notices Tori's tone she walks closer and Tori slowly sticks the needle into Christina's waist.

Tris holds back a snort. "Great, jab that shit into me but do it gently with her."

Tori glances at her before focusing back onto injecting Christina. "Because I knew she wouldn't go mental like you. Sometimes you just need to trust people."

Tris clenches her jaw. "Like I'd trust you. And don't turn the tables on me, you acted like I was about to shoot you with a gun."

Tori snickers, which causes her blood to boil. "Come to think of it, I wish I had one right now. Seeing your blood splatter everywhere would be nice..."

That shuts her up.

It takes a few seconds though for Tris to fully comprehend what she'd said.

 _Holy fucking shit I'm a monster,_ Tris thinks with a shudder. _Why did I enjoy that thought?_

When Tori is done she instructs Christina to sit on the couch next to Tris so the pain isn't bad.

"Okay, I'm going to come back in a few minutes, just stay where you are."

Tori leaves and Tris leans against the couch as Christina turns toward her.

"Why does she hate you so much?"

Tris shakes her head, not saying anything for a while. Then, "I just get a bad vibe from her, okay?"

She remembers to watch her words because somewhere in the room there were cameras.

Christina searches Tris's eyes, nods, then sinks into the couch. Tris, however, noticed the action.

"What were you just doing?"

"Hm?" She asks, picking at her cuticles.

"You just literally searched my face."

"I did?"

The way she was acting, Tris felt like she had made a mistake. But she continues to press.

"Yeah, you did, what were you doing?"

Christina purses her lips. "You have this weird pimple on your nose, it was annoying me, sorry."

Her face was so straight that Tris immediately believes her and reaches up to feel her very smooth nose.

"I don't have a pimple."

"Oh, whoops, it looked like it. It really caught my eyes."

Tris narrows her own eyes at that. "Christina, you were looking at my eyes. And my _eyes_ aren't located on my _nose_."

Christina finally huffs and turns to look at her. "You're a stubborn girl."

"And you're avoiding the topic."

"I was just checking to see if you were lying. You weren't, you really don't like Tori. I thought maybe you guys had that love and hate relationship going but you don't." She finally answers after a pause.

Tris frowns. "How did...?"

Christina suddenly laughs. "That's my secret, silly."

Tris rolls her eyes and grabs her phone. They sit for what feels like hours before the door finally opens and Tori comes walking in while carrying a set of keys and a small box about 12 inches in length and maybe 9 inches in width.

"Where'd you go?" Christina asks.

Tris strains her ears to listen to what Tori says, but all she hears is her mumbling something like, " _My room_."

Tori walks to the back of the room and tosses the keys into an opened mason jar. Then she opens the black box. Tris raises her eyebrows in surprise as Tori pulls out a stack of folders.

Christina seems bored, but now Tris is buzzing with severe interest. She almost jumps up to look at what Tori is muttering about, but she remembers that the pain in her waist will be like hell if she stood. Instead, Tris decides to tune into Tori's mumbling.

 _"Ah, hers is the 6th and...oh phew, that's good to know, maybe...On and off... That's just horrifying... No wonder... Hm... Ah...But why does... She was so young!... So sorry... so that's why she looks like a... poor boy...feel so sorry for everyone... He must've been a creep after... Psht, idiots..."_

Tori flips through about five folders while commenting quietly on each one before she puts them back into the box. Tris very subtly pushes herself up to peek and counts at least ten folders.

She quickly slumps down again when Tori briefly looks up at them. "I'm going to leave the room again, wait here."

Tris sinks into the sofa even more than she already had and begins to aimlessly scroll through her phone.

After about five minutes later, Tori returns.

"Tris, you can leave now. Bring the others girls while you're at it."

She sits there for a moment. "It won't hurt?"

"Well, it's been a half hour already last time I checked, now hurry up."

Tris slowly pushes herself up and is met with a sharp pain around the area from where she'd gotten the injection.

 _Yeah, of course it wasn't supposed to hurt, but you jabbed it in me so there's probably a bad bruise._ Tris thinks bitterly.

She makes her way over to the door and turns the knob, but a voice rings out and stops her.

"Yeah?" Tris asks.

"Sorry, again, for blaming you... About the pancakes and all..." Christina apologizes.

Tris waves her hand as if physically brushing off the apology. "I told you, it's fine, I would've done the same."

Then she walks out. However, instead of making a trip to each of their rooms yet again, she texts Lynn, Marlene, and Shauna.

TRIS- **Tori is calling all the girls to the infirmary. You'll be there for half an hour. Christina will still be there, I'm leaving tho.**

Tris copy pastes it to each contact and sends it to them all, then she slips her phone into the pocket of her hoodie.

Almost immediately, as Tris passes Lynn's room, the door swings open and Lynn comes walking out with a sweatshirt and some track pants.

"Whoa. um, hi." She greets as Lynn brushes past her.

Lynn glances back at her with a brief and rare smile. "Hey."

Tris opens her mouth to speak but Lynn turns the corner with a fast pace.

"Okay..." She trails off awkwardly.

Tris turns back around and jumps back as she sees Al standing in front of her.

"Hey, Tris. We haven't talked in a while." He answers, smiling slightly at the way she got startled earlier.

She puts a hand on her chest lightly to calm her heart. "Hi, Al. What's up?"

"Nothing. Oh wait, the pancakes were amazing, I've never eaten something so good. It was like restaurant quality."

Tris shakes her head. "It was nothing, I made it the same way everyone does."

Al snorts. "I'm pretty sure you have a secret you're not telling. So anyway, where are you going?"

Tris gestures vaguely to her right. "I was on my way to my room."

"Oh. Where were you before?"

Tris rakes a hand through her hair. "Tori's."

"Ah, can I walk you to your door?"

She shrugs. "Um, sure, why not?"

Tris swings around and begins to move toward the end of the hall as Al shuts the door behind him and follows her. It take a small moment to match pace.

"So what do you think about this place? What was your first reaction?" He asks, gesturing wide around them both with his slightly beefy arms.

Tris folds her arms. "I don't know, I just kinda... You know... Got down to business. Kinda like survival mode kicked in. And I was the first for the games anyway, there wasn't time for crying about it."

When she says that last part, Al cringes ever so slightly. "Man, That's good. I um... I kinda bothered the hell out of Lynn at night for the first few days we were here."

Tris frowns. "Why?"

He sighs as they turn a corner. "Well, you know... I'm pretty...tender... And I couldn't stop crying at night. I was just so used to being home, I think it hit me pretty hard."

Tris smiles slightly, imagining Lynn threatening to beat up Al if he sniffled any louder. "No, I understand, I can imagine."

They finally reach her room and Tris reaches into her back pocket for her key. "So, thanks for walking me back."

"Sure, your welcome."

They both stand there for a few seconds before Al suddenly takes a step forward and engulfs Tris into his arms. She tenses slightly, but he doesn't even feel it.

When he pulls away, Tris takes an unconscious step closer to the door.

"Sorry, I like giving bear hugs, anyway, see ya."

Tris nods and waves a little too enthusiastically and forced as he turns to walk away. The moment he's out of sight, she unlocks the door and steps into the room.

Her eyes survey the area, and her eyes immediately find Four lying down on his bed with his earphones on.

She takes off her hoodie and bunches it into a ball to hold the door as she goes to the fridge to grab a bottle of juice. There weren't many left.

Tris goes back to the door and starts to shove her arms through the sleeves of her hoodie when Four finally notices her.

"Hey, Tris, where were you?"

Tris grabs her bottle from where she'd placed it next to her foot and unscrews the cap. "I was at the infirmary, Tori needed us for an errand."

Four is narrowing his eyes, and Tris immediately realizes that she was unconsciously rubbing her waist- the place she'd been injected. Casually wrapping her hand back around the bottle, she takes a slow sip and allows the strawberry flavor to burst with sweetness in her mouth.

"Hey, I was gonna-"

"-Okay, wait. Tris, remember I was supposed to tell you something?" He rakes a hand through his hair as she pauses for a moment, and then nods. "Yeah, well, I need to tell you now."

Right. When she'd interrupted him earlier and told him about her parents.

But she really had to leave.

Tris leans against the door.. "Can this wait? I- or _we-_ need to be somewhere. Like... Now."

Four shakes his head. "I don't care. I have to tell you, like I said, it's been on my mind for a week!" He throws his hands up in the air. "I swear, it's been killing me."

Tris felt horrible. She owed him the time to say whatever he was supposed to... But she had little time. Very little time.

"Four. I am so sorry. But we need to go. Now. I swear you can tell me whatever it is later, but this cannot wait."

He looks at her in disbelief for a brief second before masking his face. "And what is, ' _oh so important_ ' right now?"

Tris straightens suddenly. "Hurry! We have exactly 30 minutes to do this before we can ever have another opportunity!"

She swings around and is about to step out of the door when Four is suddenly gripping her arm.

"Did you even bother to look at that?"

Tris frowns and follows his finger, slowly, until her eyes land on the screen.

 _ **Time Until Next Mini Game: 00:31:02**_

"What?! 30 minutes?! That quick?!" She gasps.

Four folds his arms. "Is this place still important?" His voice is flat.

Tris bites the inside of her cheek and considers for a few seconds.

"Yes."

A muscle jumps near his jaw and it takes Tris a few seconds to realize he was clenching it- probably to prevent himself from yelling at her.

She touches his shoulder and feels his muscles filled with tension finally relax before she turns around and begins to speed walk toward the infirmary again.

* * *

"Okay, seriously. Tell me what we're doing." Four asks for the fifth time.

Tris holds a hand up to silence him. "Wait for me here, okay?"

He narrows his eyes at her, but Tris offers him a sheepish smile and he eventually rolls his eyes.

"Great, thanks." She says with a thumbs up before entering the infirmary.

She's surprised to see that Lynn, Shauna, and Marlene are all lying on the sofas and sleeping.

Christina is gone, Tori is sitting on her chair with a cap tilted over her eyes.

 _30 minutes must've been too much._ _But then again, could this be anymore perfect? I can easily get it!_

Tris breathes shallowly as she tip toes like Four had taught her over to Tori's table.

With gentle hands (probably perfected from gaming) she slowly pulls the set of keys from the mason jar. Right when the final key is out she quickly clumps it into a tight fist to prevent any jingling noises.

She quickly tip toes back over to the door and slips out, shoving the keys into her hoodie pocket.

Four uncrosses his arms and follows Tris as she begins to walk again.

"Tris, what are we doing? If it's something bad then tell me. Seriously."

She sighs and pulls the keys out of her pocket as they make another turn.

She jingles them. "I was getting these."

Four grabs them from her and inspects it. "And why did you just go on a mission to steal keys?"

"To open a door, of course." Tris states. "Duh."

They start walking in the blue halls and Four's pace begins to slow down as Tris speeds ahead to Tori's door. "Tris, where are we?"

"Tori's room. Or at least... We'll find what we need somewhere near it..." She mumbles as she grabs the keys from his hand and begins to try the first one into the lock.

Four grabs her wrist. "Seriously? Tris. We came here to raid Tori's room- that's more important than having to listen to what I have to say?"

Tris licks her lips nervously as she tries another key. "We're not raiding her room. We're looking for something specific."

She grunts as the key stops halfway and tries another key.

"And I don't think it's more important than what _you_ have to say, Four. I just need to get this over with because it'll be a while before we get a perfect opportunity like this."

A satisfying click sounds as Tris successfully manages to turn the key to the right side, and now the door was unlocked.

Tris lets go of the knob and twists around to face Four. "We're looking for a small black box that is about 12 inches in length and maybe 9 inches in width, okay?"

"Tris, I have no clue why you're doing this. Maybe you should've taken a nap after you told me about your parents? You're not thinking clearly."

She grabs his hand and holds it firmly- as if her urgent touch alone will show him how much she _needed_ to see what was in the box.

 _"Please?"_ She whispers.

He stares at her with so much sobriety that she begins to feel guilty of just being so stubborn- but those folders in the box would not get out of her mind.

Tris slowly tugs at his hand. When he doesn't resist, she tugs him with a bit more force and and almost cries with relief as he follows her into the room.

"Just 5 minutes- and then we're out, Tris." He says softly as they both look around the room.

Tris nods and immediately begins to go through a filing cabinet while Four looks in obvious spots of the room.

As she searches the folders and cabinets for the box, Tris can't shake off the feeling of slight dread. She'd dragged Four into doing something very risky- the only thing reassuring her to stay in the room was how Tori was asleep- and even then, Tori would have to stay with the girls for until the 30 minutes were up.

Tris moves to the middle of the room and Four crosses his arms. "Look, we can stay for about 3 more minutes. How about I check this area while you go in the bathroom so that we can look way faster?"

Tris nods. "Okay."

She makes the short distance over to the bathroom and flicks on the light. Slightly closing the door behind her, she opens the medicine cabinets- only to find that they contained what her own cabinets contained.

She blows out a frustrated breath and crouches to her knees as she swings the cabinet under the sink open. Tissue rolls, plunger, soaps, sprays, cleaning supplies, towels... Nothing important.

Maybe she'd mistaken Tori's mumbling for something else? Maybe Tori meant a different room she didn't know about? Feeling hopeless, Tris shuts everything and is about to flick the light switch off when something catches her gaze in the bathtub.

A box.

It was labeled, **PROFILES OF THE CHOSEN.**

Tris feels like she's suddenly submerged into water- her movements were so slow as she slowly walks over to the tub... As if the floor beneath her were ice and would shatter into a million pieces.

Her fingers were slightly shaking as she reached for the box and lifted the lid off. Just like Tori was looking at earlier- 10 dangerous manila folders.

Tris reads the top and frowns at the way they were labeled. Then her eyes widen as the random number and symbols make sense.

 **#6 Group B**

She runs a finger over the tattoo she had near her collarbone, near her ravens- and it said the exact same thing.

Feeling goosebumps all over her arms, Tris shivers as if someone had opened a window with a winter breeze blowing through the air.

Tris opens the folder and is met with a few sheets of paper. She grabs the first one and slowly reads through the bold font. Official. Definite.

* * *

 **NAME: Beatrice Prior A.K.A. 'Tris'**

 **AGE: 19**

 **FAMILY STATUS:**

 **-Very good environment at home**

 **-Andrew Prior worked with Government- closer parent relationship to Tris.**

 **-Natalie Prior- Fun relationship with daughter, closer to Caleb.**

 **~~~BOTH PARENTS KILLED IN CAR ACCIDENT CAUSED BY TEEN.~~~**

 **-Caleb Prior- Teasing relationship with sister, very protective and loving. Finished Army Training and now Married.**

 **HANGOUTS: Library, Home, Coffee Shop**

 **TESTER: #6 GROUP B**

 **DATE OF ASSIGNED CAPTURE: June 17**

* * *

She was at a total loss of words.

It had summed up everything in about 11 lines.

It took her a second to realize someone was behind her.

"Tris, I don't think there's anything to- ...you found it?"

"How long have _they_ been watching me to know this?" Tris whispers shakily as an answer instead.

He slowly crouches beside her and gently grabs the sheet from her.

As he reads through it, Tris immediately begins to sift through the pile until she reaches the bottom.

 **#4 Group B**

She doesn't ask for permission, she roughly opens the folder and skims through the paper.

* * *

 **Name: Tobias Eaton A.K.A. 'Four'**

 **AGE: 21**

 **FAMILY STATUS:**

 **-Marcus Eaton- Worked with Government- Good reputation- At home, _cause of abuse_.**

 **-Evelyn Eaton- Victim of abuse- fled house to escape and abandoned son when 8.**

 **~~~KID ALWAYS HAD BEEN SURROUNDED BY VIOLENCE AT YOUNG AGE~~~**

 **-Tobias Eaton- Received punishments by father to which fears were developed- physical abuse started after abandonment. Finally escaped to Pedrad's.**

 **HANGOUTS: Pedrad's House, Gym, Wide and Quiet Spaces.**

 **TESTER: #4 GROUP B**

 **DATE OF ASSIGNED CAPTURE: June 17**

* * *

First, Tris was in absolute shock. His family, his life...? So so so horrible.

Then, she feels disgusted- by herself. All this time she'd been making a big deal of losing her parents- when _this_ guy- Four- _Tobias_ \- had been going through something worse since he was a small child!

And finally, Tris felt anger.

She immediately shoots up and away from Tobias..Four.. she didn't even know what to call him.

 _"Why did you not freaking tell me?!"_ She screeches, trembling with rage.

He jumps a little, startled by the way she was screaming. "What? Tell you what?"

Then his gaze goes to the paper in her hand. He looks down and notices the folder labeled with his own number, 4.

"What the...? What does it say?" He asks as he snatches it from her. As he skims through it, his face was unreadable- but his eyes revealed a sudden harshness as he read over the paper.

She waits for him to speak. Then...

"...So why are you mad at me?" He finally questions after a long silence.

Tris feels her own eyes widen. "Me?! Angry with you? _Because_ _you_ _didn't tell me_!"

His eyebrows furrow testily. "...Are you serious?"

Tris feels her hands quiver. "What is wrong with you?! How could you keep something like that and not even tell me, after all the crap _I_ told _you_?!"

Then Four laughs airily, but it wasn't friendly. "No. You're mad at me- when _this_ is what I was trying to tell you _all along_? You kept brushing me off, and now you're mad? At me? What did you think I was trying to tell you for the past few days? That I was hungry or some stupid shit? I was going to tell you but you wouldn't let me!"

Tris kicks the box, her voice clear yet unstable at the exact same time. "Stop! I feel like shit! I feel like crap! I complained and cried and yelled and raged about my parents dying because of me- when it apparently was an accident caused by some stupid teen that the people that were stalking me observed! And then- then _you're_ the one that comforted me the most- but _YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S HAD IT WORSE!"_ She was visibly seething. _"DO. YOU. KNOW. HOW. SHITTY. I. FEEL?!"_

Four was already standing as well. "Because it wasn't _recent_. Your parents died and you were 17. I was only a _kid_. I've moved on."

Tris went still as she felt her eyes water, but as far as she was concerned- no tears were allowed to fall.

Her loud and enraged voice suddenly changes into a shaking, hushed whisper. "Four, that's exactly it, you were _only_ a kid."

He stands as still as her, and they're both staring each other down. "You were abused by your dad."

Four doesn't say anything.

"You were always surrounded by violence. And your mom abandoned you when you were 8."

Her gaze falls to his hands that were now curling into tight fists. And then she understood.

"Four."

He doesn't even look up.

" _Tobias."_ She whispers, knowing that she's gotten his attention by the way he winces ever so slightly.

"I don't pity you- I'm mad at _myself_. I'm disgusted by _myself_. I was stupid and stubborn to realize that it wasn't my fault- and that's why I couldn't move on about my parents. I'm mad at _myself_ because you were always surrounded by violence and I've made it seem like my whole world ended with my parents- when you're the one who's never had a good family to start with."

And then she feels the tears fall. "But... But I'm only mad at you because you didn't exactly trust me when I trusted you first. You asked for me to trust you- but here you were keeping secrets- but demanding to know mine. And that's just messed up. Can't you see?"

When she swiped her eyes with the back of her hand, she noticed that Four was still gripping the paper, and it was quivering slightly.

He lets the paper fall from his hand, and they both watch as it gently falls to the ground without a sound.

"I've lived my whole childhood not being able to talk. I didn't even realize I was being unfair- but I was raised to not speak what I wanted, only to please Marcus."

 _He didn't call him dad._ She thinks.

"But I'm _trying_ for you- and it's so hard."

They both stand quietly, the tension thick in the air.

"I just felt like you'd think I was him... If I told you... That's why I was scared. And I know- I'm a coward because I'm _still_ afraid. Of him, and of what everyone will think."

Tris takes a small step closer. "You're _not_ him. Are you stupid? You've been so nice to me- and you think you're like him?!"

The idea was so absurd to her that a bubble of laughter raises past her throat. She takes another step closer.

He takes one step back- and it's like a punch to her gut. "Yeah, I'm nice now- but will I be later? Marcus was nice enough to lure my mom to him- what if I'm doing the same to you? I was so confident I wouldn't be like him, I was so confident that maybe I could be a different person, but now I'm... shaky about it."

"What are you _saying_?" Tris utters in disbelief, "you're in no way crazy or controlling or anything. You've not once hurt me- and you care about _everyone_. What about Zeke? Uriah?"

And then something flashes in his eyes- bitterness.

"You don't even know how he looks like or who he is- if you saw him you'd know that we look like father and son. And I hate it."

"Then why don't you fucking tell me?" She asks with a trace of coldness in her voice- surprised he was mad at her.

Then he's walking backward. And Tris can't do anything but stand frozen because she's shocked that he's just trying to get away from her.

"He's manipulative, he's polite, he's everything people want in a man- I'm sure you'd think the same thing- so stop trying to tell me I'm not like him when you don't even know who Marcus is in the first place."

Then she's alone- the sound of the door slamming echoing in the room.

She stands for what feels like forever until her knees become weak, and Tris makes her way out of the bathroom and into the living room again. She shakily sits onto the bed and pulls at the sleeves of her hoodie until they're past her fingertips.

 _None of this was supposed to happen._

Tris suddenly punches the pillow beside her so roughly that the whole bed rattles in protest. _"_ Why do _I_ always have to suffer?! _Why not someone else?!"_

She helplessly flops onto the bed again and closes her eyes.

But then she hears a loud ping.

Tris shoots up from the bed and gasps in pure alarm as she realizes the screen that was near the kitchen was a flashing red.

 _ **Time Until Next Mini Game: 00:00:00**_

"Oh my God!" Tris yells as she flings herself toward the door- but before she can reach the knob there's a loud and horrifying _click._

Tris turns the knob to the door- and it doesn't budge.

She tries again and again- all it does is make the door rattle. Then she starts to use her curled fists to smack the door in a huge panic, and she didn't realize her breath was shallow until now.

"Four! Someone?!" She yells- but she knows it's useless.

Tris feels her heart suddenly skip a beat. Tori would come. Tori would get her out...

...After the game was over and she treated whoever needed to be treated in the infirmary.

 _This is too much._

Tris sinks to her knees as her eyes water. "The world hates me."

Right when she's about to totally bawl her life out of its body- the screen flashes back into white.

Tris slowly forces herself to stand and frowns at the screen as she steps closer. It was way different than what they had in their own rooms.

This one had buttons on the side.

 **PLAY**

 **REWIND**

 **PAUSE**

 **FAST FORWARD**

 **CAFETERIA**

 **INFIRMARY**

 **ON/OFF**

Tris stares at the buttons for a full minute before slowly pressing the Off button. The screen turns black. She presses it again and the screen returns to its white state.

She sucks in a breath. This was unbelievable.

Tris tentatively hits the Cafeteria button and feels her eyebrows raise as she is immediately met with a full view.

Everyone was sitting in their seats- and Tris feels dread all over again as she realizes that apparently the spot next to Uriah should've been hers.

She must've taken too long though- because everyone suddenly gets up and goes to enter the Observation room.

"Shit. Shit shit shit. Who's playing?" She mumbles as she skims through the crowd- but she couldn't see properly because they all looked like blurry figures of black and blue.

Tris jams the Rewind button and watches as everyone moves backward- into their seats- then two people with no fear in their stance walk backward as well after a moment.

Tris quickly hits Pause.

She stifles a sob.

The guy in the front had shiny glints of metal everywhere... Piercings... A tight blue hoodie.

Eric.

And the person behind him was unmistakable- Tris could read his face from anywhere, or recognize his presence without having to even turn around.

Four.

Tris hits Fast Forward and watches as they both seemingly run to the front, not once looking back.

However, Four kept glancing at the door to the cafeteria- and Tris realized that he was expecting her to barge through them.

But she never did.

She was stuck in the room.

And then after everyone scurried around the room like little squirrels, the cafeteria is empty.

She'd have no way to watch the games.

Their outburst could be the last thing they'd have done before one of them was gone forever.

And all Tris feels is regret.

A deep heart aching regret.

* * *

 _ **A/N- Everything is going so wrong.**_

 _ **Did the 'Profiles of the Chosen' look familiar? What chapter was that from?**_

 _ **So... hey guys- just wanted everyone to know that I can't thank you all enough. Like seriously- I got a good amount of reviews last chapter and it was so amazing to know that you all are enjoying the story or reviewing about it- I love to read your thoughts about everything!**_

 _ **Did you know this chapter has 6,700+ words? WTF?! Is it becoming a burden for u all to read this much or no? But either way, you're incredible and I love ya if you're reading all they way till here.**_

 _ **I'm sorry if I made any mistakes or grammar stuff in the chapter- but I wanted to get the chapter out ASAP the moment I finished the last word- so forgive me, I'm serious.**_

 _ **Please review,follow, fave, whatever ya want! It's free! And I love you all SO much!**_

 _ **I swear, it's almost Thanksgiving break- what is happening to the world?!**_

 ** _Anyway_** _ **, BYEEEEEE! Love ya!**_


	18. Chapter 18

Tris could not bring herself to move her eyes away from the screen, but suddenly she was reminded of the scattered papers in the bathroom.

The box had been hidden, and if Tori came back, Tris would be dead.

Tris allows herself one last glance of the empty cafeteria on the screen before slowly standing. She walks over to the bathroom and frowns at the sheets around the place.

Crouching on the cold tile floor, she gently picks up the the sheet closest to her and flips it over. Tris almost winces at the reminder of Four.

His childhood was so horrible. Abuse was heard about everywhere, but to actually _know_ someone who's been through it was just so... so... indescribable.

She slips the sheet into its folder and places it into the box. She does the same with her own folder.

After she's done, Tris drums her fingers on her thigh. She couldn't stop staring at the box. She knew that she should just close the flaps again and put it back where she'd found it, but the box contained so many answers to questions she dare not ask. Even better, it had all of Group B's files.

She clenches her jaw and closes the box before placing it back into the tub.

 _Good, don't look through it._

Tris switches the light off and walks back into the living room again.

Her eyes immediately fly over to the screen, and she feels her heart deflate when she realizes it was still empty. It'd been what? Roughly 8 minutes or so?

Tris jogs over to the door and swears as she tries to turn the knob. Still locked.

Right when she's about to bang her head in frustration, she receives a small heart attack as her phone beeps at least 4 times in a row.

URIAH- **Tris!**

URIAH- **Where r u?**

URIAH- **R U OK?!**

URIAH- **?!**

Tris immediately straightens as she reads the messages. Her thumbs frantically tap on the screen.

TRIS- I need your help! Can you please call me?

The moment she hits ' **send** ', she gets a reply a millisecond later.

 _ **Error Occurred. Please send again.**_

She retypes her message and sends it again, but she gets the same answer:

 _ **Error Occurred. Please send again.**_

"Okay, not only do I have to be stuck here, but I've got _NO sense of communication?!"_ Tris flames loudly.

She stomps over to the screen and checks the settings again.

 **PLAY**

 **REWIND**

 **PAUSE**

 **FAST FORWARD**

 **CAFETERIA**

 **INFIRMARY**

 **ON/OFF**

She clenches her jaw as she rapidly jams on the Infirmary button. A second later, the screen switches from the empty cafeteria to a bored looking Tori. She's sitting on her chair with her legs draped over her desk.

Tris watches as Tori seems to flip through some type of magazine.

A fucking game was going on and she was enjoying rumors and gossip of the modern world right now. She only cared about healing whoever needed to be healed and then getting on with her life.

Tris frustratingly tightens her hands until her fingernails dig deep into her skin. Little pricks of pain rise into her palms and she ignores the little drops of blood.

She walks over to the bed and hopelessly flops down onto it.

Her phone rings again.

URIAH- **TRIS! Four and Eric are competing against each other, where ARE you?!**

Third time's the charm?

TRIS- I NEED YOUR HELP! CAN YOU PLEASE CALL ME?!

 ** _Error occurred. Please send-_**

The loud smack of plastic and metal echoes in the room as Tris hurls her phone straight into the wall. The bright screen flickers- then black.

Tris groans as her hands rub at her face with great force. What the hell was she supposed to do?!

She felt like some psycho that was going insane. The things you watched in movies where people appear to be decent but were actually delusional.

...Perhaps like Marcus...?

Tris shakes the thought away. What the hell, she needed to physically _do_ something to keep herself from going deranged.

And there was only one other thing she could think of at the moment.

* * *

Tris sifts through the black box as she tries to crouch into a more comfortable position on the tiled floor.

Finally, she ends up crossing her legs and sitting on her bottom.

Tris takes a deep breath, then places her hand into the box.

After she pulls out a random file, she opens it to the first sheet.

Then she closes it again.

This folder was Zeke's.

An unsettling feeling descends on her. She was going through people's privacy. She was reading their lives.

And at the moment she didn't care.

Which was why she was selfish.

Very selfish.

Tris opens the file again and pushes away the eating guilt. Her eyes scan through the paper quickly.

* * *

 **NAME: Ezekiel Pedrad A.K.A. Zeke**

 **FAMILY STATUS:**

 **-Unhealthy environment as kid. Lots of fighting and and yelling with parents**

 **-Father cheated with waitress. Returned home pleading. Not having been forgiven, snuck into house to grab kids. Halfway down the road, got ran over. Death in front of children, scarred.**

 **-Now live in own apartment. Visit Mother once in a while.**

 **-Hana Pedrad- Mother of two (Uriah and Zeke)**

 **-Took in runaway child, aka Tobias Eaton.**

 **HANGOUTS: Apartment, Bar, Parties, Food locations**

 **TESTER: #2 Group B**

 **DATE OF ASSIGNED CAPTURE: June 17**

* * *

Tris slowly closes the folder in bewilderment.

She understood something.

Everyone. Here. Had. Problems.

Including her.

Which was why people _literally_ wouldn't care if they were gone, because their loved ones weren't even there anyway. No one would even be able to tell.

Here, Hana, Zeke's mom- she didn't even live with her sons. How the hell would she know he was gone for good? She'd probably assume he was at a party or something.

Then Tris feels hurt and anger yet again- but at herself.

It was life. And it was telling her to shut the fuck up because she wasn't the only unfortunate one in the world.

No matter how hard of a life someone had, that didn't mean everything was over.

And clearly, Tris failed to accomplish that.

Four? He escaped and moved in with the amazing Pedrads.

Zeke and Uriah? They stayed optimistic and partied like there was no tomorrow.

And Tris? Tris hid. She hid from everything and did her best to drown out the sympathy around her. That only made her life worse. She played Minecraft and had two personalities. Her real self and the one she had on technology.

But all their hard work? Gone. Because now they were going to die here.

And today? Possibly Four.

And now Tris felt even more regret than before. She should've lived her life to its fullest just like Zeke did, even though death was standing right in front of them.

A loud smash of metal causes Tris to scramble up and shove the files back into the box. She quickly places it into the tub and runs out, almost toppling over from her effort to move quickly.

Her eyes scan the room, only to see that no one was there.

Unless...

Tris quickly makes her way over to the door and turns the knob.

...It doesn't open.

 _What the hell was that freaking noise?_

She looks around the room in confusion. There was a crash.. From where? Tris purses her lips as she climbs onto the bed. _Maybe someone was in here? Tori, perhaps?_

Her gaze flies over to the screen where it was set to the Infirmary. Except Tori _was_ there.

And she wasn't alone.

She leaps off the bed and runs over to the screen, her eyes squinting at the scene.

Eight other people standing around something.

Tris runs over to her phone and clicks on the button. Maybe Uriah messaged her, maybe the game was done, maybe-

-her phone would never open.

" _Are you KIDDING me?!"_ Tris shrills in disbelief.

She looks around the room dejectedly as her eyes burn. Her voice cracks as she speaks.

"Great. Fuck my life. I'm in horrible terms with Four, I forgot about the cafeteria and am now locked in a room, I can't contact anyone, I broke my cellphone, and I found out that I'm the shittiest and most selfish being in the world because everyone has problems like me yet I failed to realize that."

Tris sinks to her knees. "And I'll be stuck here until Tori finally gets back. I don't know what to tell her."

Tris hugs her legs close to her chest as she watches the screen.

 _What are they crowding around anyway?_

A few people jog over to the sink in the back of the room as they seemingly start to wash their hands. Tris frowns as she squints her eyes.

 _They were washing blood off?_

Her breath hitches. One person dries off their hands and turns to get back over to the bed.

Will. His face looked paler than usual. Then someone else moves and shoves Will aside with speed. Lynn.

A loud _click_ sounds, and the screen starts to become a shocking red.

"No way, no way." Tris gasps as she leaps up. The door. The door.

She turns to head toward it when she stops dead in her tracks. The crowd. They'd moved aside a bit.

And lying in the bed was Four, with an arm loosely draped across his face. His chest was rising and falling, but Tris caught the way he winced with each inhalation.

A sharp ache deeply arises in her chest. She was shocked there was a lump in her throat.

He was alive. And he was wounded.

Tris quickly turns and runs over to the door. This time when she turned the knob, it successfully opened.

Stopping a sob of relief from escaping pass her lips, Tris exits the room and slowly closes the door behind her. Her head was pounding, but she kept a fast pace as she ran down the hall.

She makes a sharp turn and suddenly stops. She had spots of dark colors swimming in her vision.

Tris leans against the wall as she waits for it to pass. She couldn't waste time. She had so much to do, like go to Four. Did he even want to see her? She had to find out if they'd won. She needed to know about the game. She needed to _know._

Tris feels the hairs on the back of her neck bristle.

Her fingertips graze the back of her neck to feel if something was here, except all she felt was the skin from the back of her neck.

That feeling. That unsettling feeling. She had it again.

That's _exactly_ when she heard a door slam, right from the direction of where she'd come from.

Her heart explodes with hammering beats against her chest. She gets so afraid that for a few long moments her body freezes with fear.

Footsteps. Light, soft, quiet footsteps.

Slowly, ever so slowly, her brain comprehends that someone was following her. Adrenaline rushes through her body.

Fight or flight?

Tris clenches as her jaw as she forces herself to turn around.

"Show yourself." Tris says loudly, her voice surprisingly calm. "Why are you following me?"

She waits three long agonizing seconds before a quiet scrape of metal causes her to snap out of her daze.

Somehow she was smart enough to turn and run.

Her mind was going crazy with an overload of information. All she could do was hope for her brain to successfully remember the route back to the Infirmary.

As she makes a sharp turn to the left, her ears strain to hear if someone was still following her.

Then she sees a flash of black cloth.

Despite her urge to run like hell, her body halts to a stop.

What a horrible time to be having a flashback.

That black cloth triggered something in her memory: From the first day when someone hacked her and her Skype was on- she'd jumped in surprise when she saw it.

When she asked what it was, the person had responded with,

 _ **We are watching you. One wrong move, your soul will be meeting your Maker.**_

Just as Tris thought that, she hears a loud crash of metal right next to her.

 _So that's what the crash was._ Tris thinks.

Before she can move again, something heavy slams right into her jaw, and then the back of her head.

And before she can scream from agony and fear-

She was already being consumed by darkness.

* * *

 _Pain._

That's the first thing Tris registers as her senses begin to come back.

She groans softly as her eyes shoot open.

A small sense of déjà vu hits her, but she ignores it and pushes herself up from the bed she was lying down on.

Tris stifles a hiss as she turns her pounding head around to survey the area she was in.

And right in front of her, was about 6 bold words.

 **FAILURE TO ARRIVE IN SUBSTANTIAL ACTIVITY.**

Tris bites the inside of her cheek. Okay, they knew she didn't arrive to the cafeteria.

So...?

She forces herself to stand up- for some reason she wasn't surprised when she saw the familiar concrete walls.

Another wave of déjà vu hits her as she makes her way over to the mirror in the room.

Tris sucks in a huge breath as she takes in her appearance. So awful.

The left side of her face was purple and black; the area right where her jaw was. Tris grazes her fingers against the swollen area and whimpers at the sharp pain that comes.

Then she reaches the back of her head and winces as she feels a bump. Her eyes slightly water from the burning.

Tris walks back over to the bed and frowns as she realizes the black rectangular metal lying next to the pillow. She grabs for it and feels her eyes widen when she realizes it's a phone.

New.

She tentatively presses on the power button and is met with a red screen.

 ** _Device Is Disabled For 2 days._**

 ** _Time remaining: 18hr*23min*07sec*_**

"What the- _two days?!"_ Tris gasps in bewilderment.

Just how long was she out for? Maybe 30 hours? It said two days, that means 48 hours.

It didn't really occur to her until now how much of a deep trouble she was in.

Tris quickly whips around and ignores the stabbing pain in her head. She runs over to the door and swears as the door doesn't budge.

She was stuck _again_.

Tris would _not_ give up this time, she wouldn't give in to defeat. Looking around the room however, Tris couldn't shake off that feeling that she'd been in this room before.

Then she realizes- she had.

"What is up with the little throwbacks?" She murmurs in annoyance after remembering that the first time she'd been here was when she'd woken up after being kidnapped for the first time.

She stands again and walks back over to the mirror. Last time she stood staring at her reflection, she looked like a pretty bad-ass gladiator with thick eyeliner and mascara, giving her eyes a bright bluish gray dangerous color.

Now, she stood with a bruise near the bottom of her cheek, no eyeliner or mascara, and just a hoodie. Bland and boring.

Tris frowns as she rubs at her neck. She had no idea what to do. This wasn't a game, she wasn't being threatened in any way... So how was she supposed to be able to take this seriously? Usually a survival mode kicked in- but what was she surviving against? Definitely not Peter.

She was now rubbing her collarbone. The tattoo **#6 Group B** stared back at her with intimidation.

Tris shakes her head and blows out a frustrated breath from her puffed up cheeks.

She was really missing her family right now. Comfort. Love. She needed that.

Unconciously, Tris runs her fingers over each raven representing the family members that had left her.

However, looking in the mirror, the ravens weren't there.

One thing was pretty clear, she wasn't blind.

A bubble of hysteria rises in her throat. "I'm not a freaking vampire."

Tris pushes her hair aside, suddenly getting a bit more frantic. Did they remove it? When did they remove it?!

 _No. No way._ Tris tells herself. _I_ _would feel it otherwise. It would hurt otherwise._

Where the hell was her tattoo? She had a tattoo that she'd gotten when she was 18!

Tris wipes at her eyes and comes away with both her hands glistening with tears.

She didn't even care. Her tattoo meant everything to her.

Tris runs over to the door and slams the knob with her fist so hard that pain shoots up through her whole entire arm. She didn't care, the outside pain felt better than emotionally.

She slams the door again and again.

But when she tries the knob it doesn't open.

A whimper escapes her lips and Tris quickly clamps a hand over her mouth to stifle the sound.

This was the worst thing that could happen. She hated surprises, she hated being out of control, she hated not knowing what was going on.

All of that exactly was happening right now.

 _Please tell me I'm dreaming. Please tell me I'm dreaming. This can't be real. This cannot be real._

 _This isn't real._

 _This. Is. Not. Real._

 _This is all fake. This has to all be fake. I'm hallucinating. No one can actually have this much bad luck in a few hours._

Tris shuts her eyes closed and continues her mantra: This wasn't real.

Why was the mirror not reflecting her ravens? Something was wrong. Nothing made sense anymore, all she knew was that she was in a room where apparently she couldn't see her tattoo.

Tris opens her eyes and tries the doorknob, this time it smoothly rotates 180 degrees and a click sounds, making it clear that the door had opened.

Clearly struck with confusion, Tris lets go of the knob and backs away. Why was the door opening now? She looks around the room and bites the inside of her cheek.

This wasn't real.

No more than a few seconds later Tris was vigorously pinching her skin, willing for the area she was in to disappear.

This mirror. Not real.

This bed. Not real.

This room. Not real.

Everything was not real.

She was not experiencing something real.

...

And then her eyes opened.

* * *

Tris grimaces at the bright white lights above her head. She clenches her jaw and ignores the throbbing pain as she does so.

One thing wasn't fake- and that was the way her head, jaw, and even arm now hurt.

Pushing herself up, yet again, she tentatively surveys the area she was in.

The Infirmary.

"Well if it isn't for the sleeping beauty to finally open her eyes. Good, you're awake, you need to get to the cafeteria now, it's been about three days since they kept you."

Tris moves her head sluggishly to the direction of the familiar voice and grimaces.

Tori.

"I..I wha?"

"You were kept under a simulation- good job by the way. You figured it out quite fast. Not bad for someone who needed to receive a punishment for not appearing at the cafeteria.

"...Three days?.. Tha naw good."

"It was the side effects. You figured it out in about fifteen minutes- but I think they gave an overdose so you were unconscious for a while... Well not really. Three days is a lot. They gave a helluva overdose- they won't make the same mistake again."

"...They?"

"Not answering that."

"Wha... simulashon?"

Tris vows to kill Tori later as she sees her try not to laugh. It wasn't her fault her speech was horrible.

"I can explain that later."

Tris swings her legs to the side of the bed and flinches in pain.

"My.. head... jaw... arm hurt"

Tori raises her eyebrows. "Damn. That's why you're talking weird. When you were under the simulation you were able to talk fine because it was fake... Real life obviously has different ideas."

She walks to the back of the room and returns with a glass of water and two pills.

"Take these, it'll do the trick. You'll feel a bit better and your speech will hopefully improve."

So blind... She was _just_ realizing now that her right hand up until her wrist was wrapped in black bandage roll.

Tris weakly grabs the pills with her left hand instead and places them in her mouth. She fully washes them down with the water after taking three sips.

"What... Four?"

"Ah, congratulations, you guys won." Tori walks to the back of the room to set the glass back into the sink. "Four and Eric. Damn."

"What happened... the game?"

"They... had a pretty straight-forward game."

Tris waits for Tori to continue.

"In the beginning they were each given a puzzle. Five minutes to solve. Solving it would give them the key which they'd use to open their box. Inside the box was armor. After time was up, they'd, well, have a match."

"They just.. fought physically?"

"Hey, your speech is getting there. And yes, no weapons, just these babies." Tori waves her curled fists around. Tris was too tired to say something witty or complain about what an annoying person Tori was.

"Anyway, they had to fight until someone became unconscious- then they'd press the button. Eric, however, wanted a 'death-match' instead. Real gladiator style."

Tris holds back a wince when Tori mentions, 'gladiator'.

"Fight to the death? That's just stupid."

"And as you can tell, it was a pretty intense game since both guys are pretty skilled. But Four ended up winning. He had a couple bruises on his face, knuckles, and some pretty bad ones on his stomach and chest, but other than that he's fine. It should've faded by now- it's been three days." Tori explains.

Tris looks toward the door, and Tori follows her gaze.

"You know, you actually really need to get to the cafeteria."

"Well I wasn't the one being the hold-up, excuse me."

Tori raises a brow. "I'm starting to regret giving those pills."

"And I'm regretting having not punched you already. Why am I going to the cafeteria again?"

"I'm not to tell you."

Tris purses her lips together in annoyance and gingerly pushes herself into a standing position. Even with the gentleness her head pounds.

Tori hands her something small and black.

"What is this?"

"Your phone." She simply answers.

Her breath hitches in surprise, and she presses the power button to check if it really was real.

"It's not disabled anymore, you can contact people if you want," Tori answers her unasked question, "They didn't want you managing to tell anyone where you were and that you needed help, so they cut off your signal. That's a replacement since you've broken your other one."

Tris nods and turns to leave before she stops in her tracks. Her heart drastically speeds up. _Wait, does Tori know I was in her room?_

She's about to turn around and ask when she hears a loud ping. The loud noise causes her head to throb harder than it already was.

"Warning bell, better leave." Tori calls after her.

Tucking her phone into her pocket, Tris reaches up to put on her hood. Best to hide the bruise on her jaw as much as possible.

"Looking bad-ass as ever. Black makes you look like you're ready to kill."

Tris ignores the fake encouragement from Tori and heads out the door. She knew she looked drained and obviously messed up because of the side effects and bruises.

Not wanting to get punished again, she picks up speed and gracefully makes each turn around the halls toward the cafeteria.

Her wounds were fluttering with pain, but all Tris could think about was how having hurt her right hand would be very crucial.

She frowns as she sees the doors. It was only occurring to her now how worried and possibly angry her group would be at her. Three days of no contact at all...

And Four.

A lump appears in her throat again but she tries to swallow it down.

What would he think when he saw her? Would he still be angry at her from earlier? Relieved that she was still alive? Oh how she _really_ needed to talk to him. But now as she reaches the door, Tris begins to reconsider. She didn't want to talk right now. Maybe later but not right now, there was going to be another game.

 _Keep that unreadable mask on._

Tris takes a deep breath, keeps her face emotionless, and shoves the door open with her shoulder.

Just on time too, because now the screen had shifted into a bright white background with bold letters written across.

For some reason, Tris freezes. Everyone was reading the screen- no one had seen her. She leans against the door instead to stop it from closing and decides to stand there rather than sit with her group for now.

Everyone looked quite gloomy, actually. She was able to grasp their tired and messy appearances. They looked as drained as her- but Tris also looked _beaten_ up, and that, they were not.

That's when her eyes fall onto Four.

A sharp pain totally different than her wounds spreads throughout her veins. She didn't realize how _much_ she missed him. She could see faint lines of where his wounds may have been, but Tori was right, it'd healed. Or, at least the areas she _could_ see. She couldn't see his stomach. Searching the side of his face, she noticed the slight dark circles under his eyes probably from lack of sleep. But he was still the same with his perfect hair and mesmerizing eyes- Tris has to force herself to look away and to the screen.

 **It's quite a time to be calling everyone here, isn't it? A couple hours after midnight seems pretty late.**

 **What a shame, for we do not care.**

Tris pauses. It was around 2 am? Is this why everyone was tired? They'd pulled themselves out of bed?

 **There has been a fairly successful Group during all these games. As shown down below:**

 **GROUP A- 0 Wins**

 **GROUP B- 4 Wins**

 **Group B has been absolutely dominating. It's not working well with us. We've chosen the best of the best- and there is barely enough determination in Group A. Be ashamed.**

 **And so we have bought you here today to compete in a more different style of a game. How is it different, you may ask?**

 **It's a _TEAM_ challenge.**

 **You all will work together to win the team challenge- this also gives each member the opportunity to show their enemies what they are capable of.**

 **The team challenge is an advantage for both teams to use the skills of each member wisely.**

Tris feels her eyes widen in surprise when she reads the next sentence.

 **Group B #6 please step forward and pull out a sheet of paper from the bowl in the front.**

 _Holy. fuck_. Tris curses to herself. For a second, she even considers running away. But she had a pretty good idea what the consequence might be, and she couldn't afford anymore pain right now.

Immediately wanting to get over with it, Tris finally lets go of the door she was leaning against and begins to make her way over to the front of the room. The sound of the door banging closed behind her draws everyone's attention.

Tris keeps her head low as she ignores the stares and shocked gasps around her. Tris takes her left hand out of her pocket and slowly reaches into the bowl while closing her eyes tightly. She holds her breath as the crisp sheets of paper brush against her hand- and then she grabs the one all the way on the bottom.

When she pulls her hand out her fingers immediately curl around the material into a fist. Her gaze flickers over to the screen.

 **After drawing out a paper, unfold it and read it aloud.**

Tris slowly pulls out her bandaged right hand from her other pocket and gently unfolds the small paper in her hand.

"Well what does it say _Stiff?"_ Someone shouts.

Tris turns and gives Peter a deathly glare to which he stops smiling.

"It says, capture the flag, asshole." Her voice was surprisingly low but smooth.

There's a loud ping and everyone looks at the screen again.

 **Everyone make your way over to the side of the room. Enter for further instructions.**

Tris tears the paper into pieces and stuffs them into her pocket.

She stops with a grimace as someone calls her name.

Uriah.

"Tris! Where the hell have you been?! I've texted you so many times!"

She continues to walk and he catches up with her nonetheless. She could suddenly feel everyone's presence behind her.

He catches her gaze.

"Tris!"

She looks away, then back at him.

"Punishment."

"What?" His face goes from being upset and angry to confused.

 _"Punishment."_ Her words come out more harsher than she meant it to, so she tries to soften her voice. However, everyone around them had heard her venom.

 _I've been gone three days. My phone was disabled for two days._

"Why?" Marlene asks quietly.

Tris licks her lips. "Failure to arrive in substantial activity."

Confused silence.

Will speaks up. "You didn't get in the cafeteria on time? What happened then?"

Everyone notices her wince.

Christina suddenly steps up and rips down her hood.

And Tris shuts her eyes tightly as they stand agape at her appearance.

"Oh. My. God. Tris! Who did this to you?!"

All she heard in the sentence was pity and shock.

Tris suddenly jerks her hood back on and sharply turns to Al who'd asked the question.

"How the hell am I supposed to know?! I was locked in a room. When the game ended, I could leave but then someone was following me! They slammed my jaw and my head. I was unconscious for 3 days!"

She turns to continue her outburst at Uriah. "And I saw all of your texts. All of them! I tried texting back but they cut off my signal. Then they'd disabled my phone for 2 days. Goddammit!"

It took all her strength to ignore his hurt expression.

She storms through the door to join the other people from Group A crowding around a lot of materials.

They follow her.

Lynn steps up. "Then what about your arm?"

Tris clenches her jaw as Lynn inspects her bandaged right arm.

"I tried to get out, I couldn't."

The screen pings and Tris gratefully turns to read it.

 **Wear your group's colors with these suits and grab a paintball gun. Your tasks are to successfully jump onto the passing train and jump out at the marker. It will look like a bright green light.**

 **Then, this is when you will split up. Group A will have a 5 minute head start to hide their flag followed by Group B.**

 **You are frozen for 3 minutes if you get shot.**

 **Immediate victory the moment the flag is stolen from the opposite team.**

 **Good luck.**

Tris walks to the table with their suits and grabs the small black one with her name labeled onto the back.

She slowly zips it onto her body and grabs a black paintball gun next to the suits. She puts on her hood again from under her suit and turns back to her group that's started to get their suits on as well.

This wasn't what she had expected. She'd been worried about the anger she'd get from her group, instead, _she_ was the one being angry at her _own_ group for no reason.

Tris adjusts her gun to her left arm and someone catches her gaze.

She stares at Zeke for a few seconds and then looks away. He comes up to her anyway.

"Everyone was worried sick about you and you go yelling at them."

It wasn't an angry accusation, just a statement.

Tris frowns. "Look, I didn't mean to... I don't know what happened. Honestly."

He stands still for a few seconds. "Tris. You were gone for three days without a trace, how else would everyone act?"

"Relieved?"

He stares at her before glancing down at her right arm. "My brother worried about you a lot. But it was mostly Four. He wouldn't even sleep. Did something happen between you guys before you disappeared?"

Tris chews on her lip nervously. "Well.. Yeah..."

Zeke exhales. "Okay, I'm not going to ask you what it was. But I think you should go talk to him later, I'm serious, Four never gets like this and I've known him for a long time."

Tris stops herself from saying, 'Yeah, I already know that.'

They had two more minutes left until they started.

Tris glimpses at Zeke, then at Uriah.

He notices where she's looking. "Go and apologize. He received all your texts an hour after Four's game."

She squints at her feet. "Did he try calling me?"

"He did. It kept going automatically to voicemail."

"My phone was broken- that's why I couldn't-"

"Talk to Uriah, Tris. There's not a lot of time." Zeke interrupts.

She blows out a breath and nods.

Tris makes her way over to Uriah and sets her gun down in front of her feet as she waits for him to notice her. After a few seconds he turns away from Shauna after talking with her and realizes she was standing next to him.

Before he can say anything she catches him by surprise by hugging him tightly.

"Whoa, Trissy. I know I'm hot and all but you can't just do that." He finally answers as his arms gently wrap around her frame.

She pulls away enough to glare at him. "Shut up. This is rare."

He laughs and all the tension from his face when she'd yelled at him earlier slides away.

Tris lets go of him and steps back. "I'm sorry for yelling at you.. I don't know what I was doing, sorry."

He rolls his eyes. "It's fine."

"Friends again?" She asks, offering her pinky.

He grins. "Best friends."

They link their pinkies like childish kids and step away from each other when the screen pings again.

For some reason, Tris felt more prepared than scared this time.

 **Your time starts now.**

* * *

 _ **A/N- Um, hey guys! I totally went MIA, I am so sorry. I couldn't write this chapter, cuz no matter HOW many times I wrote it, I couldn't get satisfied. Even now, even though I'm okay with this chapter I am not entirely pleased with it, I still think I could've done better but I didn't want to take a whole month doing this and torturing everyone.**_

 _ **And another thing- lol, I am SO sorry for not even adding Four. Like I promise guys, you'll get a whole bunch of him next chapter, I freaking promise.**_

 _ **UGH! I don't know why I don't like this chapter as much! UUUGGHHH! WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS?! Hopefully you guys are at least okay with it, and hopefully next chapter will be good.**_

 ** _And I forgot! Agh! Thank you all for reviewing! They make my day!_**

 ** _I AM SORRY IF THERE IS A LOT OF GRAMMAR MISTAKES I JUST WANTED TO POST THIS FOR YOU GUYS ASAP!_**

 ** _If you haven't already, fave, follow, and definitely review!_**

 ** _BYE!_**


	19. Chapter 19

The moment everyone stepped through the door a chilly breeze brushed past them. The gravel beneath their boots crunched loudly as they made their way toward the train tracks to their left.

It was night and the moon shone brightly to act as a light in the dark.

 _Is this some type of advanced simulation or is this real?_ Tris wonders in confusion. How could a room turn into so many different areas?

A loud horn blares and everyone freezes in their spots.

Then a bright light overhead begins to makes its way toward them and the ground beneath them rumbles slightly.

The silent spell is broken the moment Uriah starts whooping, followed by Lynn a few seconds later.

"Come on guys! We need to jump on, remember?!" He calls back over his shoulder with excitement written all over his face.

After a few seconds of bewilderment each person was already running after Uriah in attempt to get to the train.

Everybody except Tris who was only jogging.

 _Shit shit shit why did I have to get hurt on my head and arm?_ She thinks frantically.

Not wanting to be left behind too far, she finally starts to run faster after the crowd in front of her. Getting left out and missing the train was the last thing she wanted.

Tris kept her breathing even as the cool air of the night whipped her hair behind her. Even though this was a game, she found that being outside was something she missed so badly. The fresh air, the tress, the sky, the dirt, all so beautiful.

The sound of footsteps catching up to her brings Tris to slow down a little bit.

"Hey... Tris." Will greets. She feels like laughing at the fact that he seems to already be out of breath.

So she does.

"What?" Will asks, his eyes narrowing.

Tris sucks in a breath and coughs, trying to stop her bursts of laughter. "We haven't even ran a quarter of a mile and you're breathing like you're going to die."

He rolls his eyes and tries to match Tris's fast pace. "Oh, well, you know... haven't had...time to... go on a freaking treadmill, Missy."

Another horn sounds and cuts of their conversation. The train comes into view- all silver and shiny under the moonlight.

"What a beautiful train." Tris says sarcastically, causing him to wheeze and chuckle at the same time.

Someone whizzes past them both, jumps straight to the train, grabs a rail, and hops into the railroad car. Myra.

It was like a sudden reminder that there was a game going on. Tris and Will share a knowing look.

Leaving Will behind, Tris starts to sprint toward the train as well. She definitely didn't want to be the last one jumping in.

Tris allows her mind to calculate what she was supposed to do. Run. Jump. Grab rail. Pull body in.

As if sprinting the last few yards of a race, she boosts her speed and changes her direction directly toward the train.

Her heart pounds heavily as she hurls herself at the dark blur where the entrance of the railroad car would be.

She spreads her hands and reaches out toward the small rail she should be grabbing onto but only her left hand manages to catch the bar. Not being a lefty, Tris feels her mind go into a panic mode. Her right hand was bandaged so how was she going to pull herself in?

But before Tris can yell for help someone drapes their arm around her and firmly pulls her in. The moment her toes touch the ground again she frantically steps away from the figure and leans against the wall to calm her heart and breath steadily. It was only now occurring to her that her head was pounding again. She looks at the person who'd helped her in.

Of course it was Four.

She opens her mouth to speak but nothing comes out because he'd already looked away.

 _Oh, so he's still mad at me?_ Tris thinks with the most smallest hint of bitterness and hurt.

She doesn't have much time to get bothered by it because Uriah calls her name.

Tris turns toward him. "Hm?"

He grins. "There's not a lot of space, you can sit on my lap if you want?"

She doesn't point out that a load of people could easily fit. For some odd reason her eyes flicker over to Four, who's watching Uriah with an unreadable expression. She smiles back. "It's fine, no thanks, I'd rather stand."

Uriah frowns and Tris rolls her eyes. "It if makes you feel any better I'll stand next to you."

She walks over to him until she's about two feet away and leans against the wall while stuffing her hands deep into the pockets of her jacket. The last couple of people make their way into the train and then the ride is silent.

Tris takes this time to fully survey the people around her, and she finds herself feeling a little bewildered by the fact that everyone was extremely good-looking from both teams.

The only two people that weren't? Molly and herself.

A wave of curiosity hits her. All these people here, they looked amazing, their lives seemed perfect. But everyone here had issues, it was honestly so hard to believe or comprehend.

Tris lets her hair fall down in front of her as she feels some stares upon her. Group A must've known that she was missing too.

The silence of the area drifted through the railroad car and a sick feeling of dread washed over her. A year ago when Caleb was getting married to Susan the last place they'd said goodbye was the train station. That was the moment that she realized she was on her own, and in a way it was how she could pay back to Caleb for her parents. A lump appeared in her throat. She hadn't seen Caleb since then- only phone calls. The feeling of being in his presence was strong, he'd always looked like mom.

Finally, right when she couldn't take waiting any longer, a guy with tan skin and dark hair looks and points out the train. "There's a green light, we should be getting out now."

Tris stands straight and practically runs over to the front of the train, she was so tired of staying confined that the thought of being outside again was amazing. She didn't want her mind to drift off like it had already.

She grabs hold of the bars from each side of the door and allows the wind to whip her hair back and forth in a frenzy.

"Wait, Tris! Don't-"

But she'd already relaxed her body, bent her legs, and jumped.

There was a moment of free flying and freedom- just a second- before her legs made compact with the ground and she tumbled about two times before landing in a crouch.

Slowly pushing herself up from weak and shaky legs, she brushes herself off and despite her heavy breathing she bursts out laughing. Quickly opening the strap that held her paintball gun to her body, she readjusts it so that she could now hold it and be prepared to shoot.

She makes her way over to the green light and squints at the brightness. Right below it was a digital timer set for 3 minutes and two glowing flags. As if suddenly sensing Tris, it started to countdown.

She rapidly turns toward the people jumping out the train and cups her free hand that wasn't holding her gun over her mouth. _"GROUP A, YOUR 3 MINUTE HEAD START HAS STARTED NOW!"_

Of course, she didn't have to tell them this, but Tris honestly didn't really care. She grabs her own team flag and notices how instead of being black, it was a glowing dark-grey so it'd be easier to see than blend in the black darkness.

Eric suddenly shoves her aside and grabs the blue glowing flag. "Move it, Stiff."

Tris snorts. " _Wow_ , I'm _so_ offended." She says with sarcasm dripping in her words. "The name 'Stiff' makes me want to start _bawling_."

He spins around and grabs her waist painfully. "Don't test me or else-"

"-Four and I will kill you." Zeke cuts off as he shoves Eric away from Tris, and then harder again on the chest so he goes walking backwards a few steps.. "You're wasting your time. You obviously need your head-start seeing as you guys suck, now leave."

His eyes narrow as he opens his mouth to speak, but after thinking better of it he goes away.

Zeke rapidly turns to her. "Are you hurt?"

"...No."

After her answer his expression hardens like what Caleb used to do whenever he'd scold her. Somehow, Tris knew this wouldn't be any different.

"How many times have I _told_ you to _stay_. _away_. _from_. _Eric?!_ " Zeke reprimands.

Tris frowns. "He shoved me first, and called me Stiff! Of course I can't leave that alone!"

Zeke exhales heavily. "Tris, honestly, please don't get him mad. If he ever decides to hurt you and gets you as his target he'll torture you slowly and enjoy it. I'm not saying you're weak, but compared to him you're not going to exactly be She-Hulk, okay?"

His words sort of sting her but she just holds her gun tighter. "Okay, whatever."

Noticing her reaction he sighs and touches her shoulder gently. "I'm serious. We all need to look out for each other if we want to survive. We need you to tone down a bit." He rolls his eyes. "Because you're oh-so-talented"

Despite her pissed mood she breaks into a small smile and bows. "Did you hear that guys? He said I'm talented."

Zeke whips around to see Lynn, Uriah, Shauna, Marlene and Will behind him with amused smirks.

Tris shoves Zeke's shoulder while laughing. "I'm kidding, I'm only kidding."

"Did I miss something?" Christina asks as she makes her way over to them closely followed by Four, and then Al who's taking his time to catch his breath.

"Nope." Zeke answers.

Tris glances at the digital timer that suddenly starts to beep. "Time to start. Their head-start is up."

She hands over the flag to Shauna and begins to follow Uriah who's seemingly leading the group.

After almost 15 minutes, Tris feels her breath become a bit heavy. They'd been strolling for a while, and the ground beneath the had turned into streets.

Marlene takes out her phone and after turning on the light, she shines it at the street in front of them.

"Scared of the dark, Mar?" Uriah teases.

"If you want to step on broken glass, Uriah, be my guest," she snaps. But she turns it off anyway.

As they walk, Tris get a weird vibe from around them. It was... Very weird... and familiar...

Apparently, she wasn't the only one.

"Hey, guys?" Al asks. "I think.. I think I know this place."

Uriah turns around but continues walking backwards. "Yeah, I was thinking that too. It seems familiar but I don't know what."

Everyone looks around and studies their surroundings. Tris frowns at the rusty area around them. They were entering... Some type of amusement park?

There was a carousel closest to them, so they make their way over to it. Shauna breaks into a smile. "The merry-go-round!" She exclaims as she hops onto the horse and waves the flag around while everyone else crowds around her.

Then Shauna sucks in a sharp breath and mumbles something.

"What?" Al asks.

"Navy Pier."

Tris feels her eyes widen. Uriah speaks up. "But... But why is it... abandoned?"

Tris chews on the thought that it might be a simulation, however she doesn't say it aloud.

"Who cares where we are? Okay, it's some fake Chicago Navy Pier thingy. There's a game that apparently everyone forgot about and we need a strategy, so get talking!" Lynn exclaims with her hands thrown high above her head in annoyance.

While everyone begins bickering, Tris doesn't bother raising her voice, she listens to a few of their ideas before getting bored and looking around.

It was so weird, everything looked so real. If this was fake, Tris found she had a hard time believing it.

But it had to be fake, right? Navy Pier wasn't exactly abandoned and rickety and old.

She sighs and turns her attention else where.

Which happened to be Four.

He was leaning against a giraffe near Shauna and and gazing up at the night sky. She was slightly jealous of the way he appeared to look so relaxed with his shoulders back and his gun at his feet.

Tris exhales heavily. They way her group was arguing would make it impossible for her to shout out loud. But she did have a strategy, the first thing they'd need to do was figure out where the opposite team's flag was.

They probably walked a mile, so Eric's team would literally be a 2-mile-radius away. The only thing she could think of was to climb. Taking a glimpse at her group still bickering, she purses her lips in thought- then quickly backs away.

She strolls quietly for a few minutes until she reaches the Ferris wheel; it looked slightly brown from rust and lack of use. Despite the way the wind was whipping her hair in her face, she pops her finger into her mouth and tests the wind.

Definitely windy- but she wouldn't let that stop her.

Tris makes her way over to the side and firmly straps her gun so that it rested against her back and left her hands free. Feeling quite daring, she steps on a rung in front of her and puts her weight on it, making sure to bounce her feet.

It seemed pretty firm. She grabs a rung above her and climbs up just one before a voice interrupts her next move.

"Tris."

The voice is low and calm. She glances over her shoulder, for some reason not feeling startled at all.

"Yes?"

"I came to find out what you think you're doing." Four answers placidly. In the moonlight he looked like a terrifyingly handsome god.

Tris frowns, feeling her voice go cold at the reminder that he might still be angry with her.

"I'm seeking higher ground. I don't _think_ I'm doing anything."

Something flashes in his eyes, something like amusement and also indecision. "Alright, I'm coming."

Tris turns back to the rungs above her, suddenly realizing that he probably thinks she can't handle it.

"I'll be fine." She says stiffly.

When she peeks back at him however, he smiles slightly. "Undoubtedly."

 _Undoubtedly? What does that mean?_ Tris thinks. _Is he mocking me or is he serious? He's not serious._

She watches as he begins to strap his gun like she had, but since she didn't want to be caught looking she resumes her climbing. After she's pretty far up, she notices how he begins to climb right after her, and it wasn't long before he catches up and is grabbing the very rung that her feet would leave.

They both keep quiet for a while before Four speaks up airily. "So. Are you going to tell me about what happened?"

Tris glances back at him for a second before reaching for the next rung. "What about it?"

They both stay quiet for a full minute.

He finally exhales a breath from his puffed up cheeks, something he usually did when he was annoyed. "Look, I'm sorry, okay?"

She almost misses the next rung, and it clearly wasn't because of the wind.

"I-I... What?" She ends up chuckling breezily, plainly confused. "Why are you sorry, again?"

"Yeah, of course. You know exactly why."

Tris tries to search through her head but only comes up with one thing. "That you yelled at me?"

She pauses as he snorts. Not seeing that she'd froze above him, he grabs the next rung and brushes a hand against her waist. As she sucks in a quiet breath he quickly pulls away.

"Sorry," He breathes.

Tris could feel the butterflies in her stomach making her go dizzy. She turns to reach for another rung and almost misses it- then she realizes something.

It's him. She was perfectly fine climbing, it wasn't until after Four had caught up to her did she have trouble with figuring out where to step. Something about Four made her feel like she was about to fall. Or turn to liquid. Or burst into flames. Again, she almost misses the next rung.

When she continues to climb, Four follows after a few seconds, giving her a head-start. "I'm sorry for _leaving_ you." He finally answers, exasperated and slightly gulping the air . "If I hadn't left you wouldn't have been-"

Tris turns to look at him. "Are you alright, Four?"

He gazes down, then meets her eyes for the first time. "Are you _human_ , Tris? Being up this high..." Another shaky gulp of air. It's like he couldn't even breathe. "It doesn't scare you at all?"

She looks over her shoulder at the ground. If she fell now, she'd die. But Tris didn't think she'd fall. A sudden gust of air presses against her left side, throwing her body weight to the right. She gasps and clings to the rungs, her balance shifting. Four's cold hand clamps around Tris's hip, one of his fingers finding a strip of bare skin just under the hem of her T-shirt and hoodie.

He squeezes, steadying her and pushing her gently to the left, restoring her balance. Now it's Tris who can't breathe. She pauses, staring at her hands going white from clutching the rungs, her mouth dry. She could feel the ghost of where his hand was, his fingers long and narrow.

"You okay?" he asks quietly.

"Yes," Tris says, her voice strained.

She quickly continues to climb the last several rungs before they finally reach a platform. Tris moves over to the side to make some room for Four. He doesn't use it all though, instead, he presses his back to the support and breathes heavily with his eyes tightly closed.

He opens them when he feels Tris shift next to him, but then he screws them shut again after watching her dangle her feet over the edge.

Tris notices his obvious discomfort. "You're afraid of heights," she states quietly.

Four slowly looks down at his feet. "Everyone's afraid of something."

This causes Tris to chuckle softly. "I didn't think you were afraid of anything."

He finally glimpses at her as if she's crazy. "What the hell?"

"Hm?" She questions innocently.

He stares at her for a few seconds before something flashes in his eyes and he looks away. "I'm not as brave as you think."

Tris has to force herself not to laugh. This guy who apparently was intimidating toward threatening situations didn't think he was brave. He even beat up Eric for goodness sake. She studies his face and realizes that he was looking back at her.

"What?" He asks softly.

She'd been staring too long. "Nothing."

Tris drags her eyes away from him and observes the city around them. She'd come up here for a reason, she had to focus.

The city is pitch-black, but even if it wasn't, Tris wouldn't be able to see very far. A building stands in her way.

"We're not high enough," She says. Tris looks up. Above her is a tangle of white bars, the wheel's scaffolding. If she climbed carefully, she could wedge her feet between the supports and the crossbars and stay secure. Or as secure as possible.

"I'm going to climb," She announces, standing up. Tris grabs one of the bars above her head and pulls herself up. Shooting pains go through her bruised arm, but she ignores them.

Four gives her an exasperated look. "For God's sake, Tris."

"You don't have to follow me," She says, staring at the maze of bars above her. Tris shoves her foot onto the place where two bars cross and pushes herself up, grabbing another bar in the process. She sways for a second, her heart beating so hard she honestly can't feel anything else. Every thought she has condenses into that heartbeat, moving at the same rhythm.

"Yes, I do," he answers.

This is crazy, and Tris knew it. A fraction of an inch of mistake, half a second of hesitation, and her life is over. Heat tears through her chest, and and she smiles as she manages to grab the next bar.

Tris pulls herself up, her arms shaking, and forces her leg under her so she's standing on another bar. When Tris feels steady, she looks down at Four. But instead of seeing him, She sees straight to the ground.

She can't breathe.

Tris nervously imagines her body plummeting, smacking into the bars as it falls down, and her limbs at broken angles on the pavement, just like Rita when she didn't make it onto the net in Uriah's game.

Four grabs a bar with each hand and pulls himself up, easy, like he's sitting up in bed. But he is not comfortable or natural here—every muscle in his arm stands out. It is a stupid thing for her to think when she's one hundred feet off the ground.

She grabs another bar, finding another place to wedge her foot. When she looks at the city again, the building isn't in her way anymore. She's high enough to see the skyline. Beneath the buildings, the streets that are seemingly there look like tunnels.

For a few seconds Tris only sees a dark blanket over the land in front of her, just faint differences between building and sky and street and ground. Then she spots a blue tiny pulsing light on the ground.

"See that?" Tris asks as she lets go of the bar with one hand and points.

Four stops climbing when he's right behind her and looks over her shoulder, his chin next to her head. His breaths flutter against her ear, and she feels shaky again, like she did when climbing the ladder.

"Yeah," he says. A smile spreads over his face.

"It's coming from the park at the end of the pier," he continues. "Figures. It's surrounded by open space, but the trees provide some camouflage. Obviously not enough."

"Okay," Tris answers. She looks over her shoulder at him. They are so close together that she forgets where she was; instead Tris notices that the corners of his mouth turn down naturally, just like her own, and that he has a scar on his chin.

"Um," Tris says. She clears her throat. "Start climbing down. I'll follow you."

Four nods and steps down. His leg is so long that he finds a place for his foot easily and guides his body between the bars. Even in darkness, she can note that his hands are bright red and shaking.

Tris steps down with one foot, pressing her weight into one of the crossbars. The bar creaks beneath her and startlingly comes loose, clattering against half a dozen bars on the way down and bouncing on the pavement.

A sharp pain shoots through her arm and she is then dangling from the scaffolding with her toes swinging in midair. A strangled gasp escapes her.

"Four!"

Tris tries to find another place to put her foot, but the nearest foothold is a few feet away, farther than she can stretch. Not being able to bear the pain from her right hand any longer, she lets go and tries to hold all her weight with only her left arm. Her hand was sweating, something that normally happened whenever she got nervous- and Tris suppresses a scream after a sudden realization.

 _I will slip. I will slip._ Tris thinks in complete panic.

"Hold on!" he shouts. "Just hold on, I have an idea."

He keeps climbing down. He's moving in the wrong direction; he should be coming toward her, not going away from her. Tris stares at her left hand, which is wrapped around the narrow bar so tightly her knuckles are white. Her fingers are dark red, almost purple. They won't last long.

 _I won't last long._

Tris squeezes her eyes shut. _Better not to look. Better to pretend that none of this exists._ She hears Four's sneakers squeak against metal and rapid footsteps on ladder rungs.

"Four!" She yells, feeling her grip loosening ever so slightly. "I hurt my arm earlier! I don't know if I can hold on!"

 _Maybe he left. Maybe he abandoned me._ Tris thinks frantically as she doesn't hear a reply, only his sneakers squeaking faster.

She breathes in her nose and out of her mouth. Tris counts her breaths to calm down. _One, two. In, out. Come on,_ Four is all she can think. _Come on, do something._

Then she hears something wheeze and creak. The bar she'd been holding shudders, and Tris groans through her clenched teeth as she fights to keep her grip.

The wheel is moving.

Air wraps around her ankles and wrists as the wind gushes up, like a geyser. Tris opens her eyes. She's moving—toward the ground.

Tris can feel the bubble of hysteria in her throat as the ground comes closer and closer. But she was picking up speed. If she didn't drop at the right time, the moving cars and metal scaffolding would drag at her body and carry her with them, and then she really will die.

Every muscle in her body tenses as she hurtles toward the ground. When she can see the cracks in the sidewalk, she drops, and her body slams into the ground, feet first. Her legs collapse beneath her and pulling her arms in, she rolls as fast as she can to the side.

The cement scrapes her face, and she turns just in time to see a car bearing down on her, like a giant shoe about to crush her. She frantically rolls again, and the bottom of the car skims her shoulder.

 _I'm safe._

Tris, her chest heaving, covers her face with her hands and moans softly at the way her head was pounding so bad, she felt like someone was smacking her head with a rock repeatedly.

Footsteps run toward her and then her hands are being pried away from her face in a frenzy. She winces as Four holds her hands perfectly in his and pulls her into a sitting position.

"You all right?" He asks softly, eyes showing panic.

Then, unexpectedly, she bites the inside of her cheek and buries her face into his chest, gulping in huge gushes of air as her shoulders shook.

Not knowing what to do, he lets go of her hands and wraps his arm around her in comfort. But then she pulls away and he realizes something.

Tris was laughing.

"Yeah." She gasps through her bursts of laughter. "I'm okay."

He joins in and stands, pulling her up with him. The wheel is still moving, creating a wind that tosses her hair back.

"You could have told me that the Ferris wheel still worked," Tris states, trying to sound casual. "We wouldn't have had to climb in the first place."

"I would have, if I had known," he says. "Couldn't just let you hang there, so I took a risk. Come on, time to get their flag."

He turns and Tris begins to run ahead, completely trying to ignore the pain throughout her body. He catches up next to her and when they finally make it back to the carousel, they see Christina perched onto a horse with the flag behind her.

Tris frowns. Will, Al, Zeke, and Marlene were gone.

"Where'd the others go?" asks Four.

Tris internally smiles at the way he looks as excited as she felt, his eyes wide with energy.

"Did you guys turn on the wheel?" Lynn asks. "What the hell are you thinking? You might as well have just shouted 'Here we are! Come and get us!'" She shakes her head.

"The wheel doesn't matter," says Four. "We know where they are."

"We?" says Christina, looking from Four to me.

"Yes, while the rest of you were twiddling your thumbs, Tris climbed the Ferris wheel to look for the other team," he says.

"What do we do now, then?" asks Shauna through a yawn.

Four looks at Tris. Slowly, the eyes of everyone else migrate from him to her. She tense her shoulders, about to shrug and say _I don't know_ , and then an image of the pier stretching out beneath her comes into her mind. She had an idea.

"Split in half," She states. "There's six of us, so three people go to the right side of the pier, three to the left. The other team is in the park at the end of the pier, so the group of three from the left side will charge as the group of three from the right sneaks behind the other team to get the flag."

"Sounds good," says Shauna, clapping her hands together. "Let's get this game over with, shall we?"

Christina joins Tris in the group going to the right, along with Uriah, whose smile looks white against his skin's bronze. She didn't notice before, but other than the labeling, he has a tattoo of a snake behind his ear. She stares at its tail curling around his earlobe for a moment, but then Christina starts running and Tris begins to follow her.

She has to run twice as fast to match her short strides to Christina's long ones. As she runs, Tris realizes that only one of them will get to touch the flag, and it wouldn't matter that it was her plan and her information that got everyone to it if she's not the one who grabs it. Though she can hardly breathe or bear the pain in her body as it was, She runs faster, and then is on Christina's heels. Tris pulls her gun around her body, holding her finger over the trigger.

They reach the end of the pier, and she clamps her mouth shut to keep her loud breaths in. They slow down so their footsteps aren't as loud, and she looks for the blinking light again. Now that she was on the ground, it's bigger and easier to see. Tris points, and Christina nods, leading the way toward it.

Then Tris hears a chorus of yells, so loud they make her jump. She can hear puffs of air as paint balls go flying and splats as they find their targets. Their team has charged, the other team runs to meet Tris's team, and the flag is almost unguarded. Uriah takes aim and shoots the last guard who has blond hair and turquoise colored eyes in the thigh. Tris frowns as he suddenly freezes, and drops to the ground with a pained expression.

She turns around again and sprints to catch up to Christina. The flag hangs from a tree branch, high above her head. Her body seemed too fatigued to climb like she always would've, but she reaches for it, and so does Christina.

"Come on, Tris," she says. "You're already the hero of the day. And you know you can't reach it anyway."

Then a loud shot fires, and Christina's eyes widen. With no warning, Tris sees a glint her eyes before she shoves her in the front as a shield, and a sharp agonizing pain hits her stomach. There's an explosion of blue paint. Then her whole body suddenly becomes numb and it was like the last thing her body honestly could bear, and she doubles over and hits the ground.

Of course there was a catch in the game, the paint balls were as hard as rocks- and they didn't sting like a regular paintball, to Tris it felt exactly like getting a bullet slamming into your body. But what she was shocked about the most was how Christina just shoved her in front of the paintball so she could grab the flag, she couldn't comprehend how immature and stupid it was.

Without looking at her, Christina turns, snatches the flag, and gives a whoop of victory. She can hear a chorus of yells in the distance.

After a couple minutes someones runs over to her and touches her shoulder. "Oh, my God. Tris, are you okay?"

Every breath sent ripples of pain, but she quietly whimpers and turns her head away, the blackness starting to consume her. She forces on a momentary smile. "I'm fine, Al."

Another set of footsteps, much more quicker than Al's. "What happened?"

"She got shot." Al exclaims with worry. Did he not see Christina or was he lying?!

Al slowly gathers Tris and pulls her up. "We need to leave, Tris. We can patch you up later."

Tris tries to act strong- she didn't want to be the center of attention, but when Al sets her on her feet, she felt so stiff. She tips forward and almost falls to the ground again when Four quickly catches her. "Al, she's frozen for three minutes, look around you. Do you not remember the rules?"

He was right. Around them, the people who had been shot were groaning in pain and lying on their backs, waiting for the stiffness to pass.

They can hear the horn of the train in the distance, a faint sound in the stillness of the night.

"Great." Al mutters.

Four crouches next to Tris and frowns at her attempts to hide her grimaces of pain. "Do you think I can carry you until you can start walking again?"

All Tris heard was, _"...think... carry.. again...?_

She nods her head absent-minded, and Four gently scoops her up bridal style as to not cause too much pain.

"I can carry her if you can't-"

"I've got it." Four cuts off.

Tris lets her eyes fall closed and leans her head against his chest, listening to his fast heart beat from his quick pace to get to the train tracks.

As Four walks, she can feel her feet start to tingle slightly as if they'd fallen asleep, and Tris begins to slowly curl and uncurl her fists to stretch her body.

"Starting to move?" Four asks softly, his gaze glancing down at her every few seconds.

"...Yeah." She croaks, trying to ignore the sharp agonizing pain on her stomach. "You can set me down."

He places Tris back onto the ground but keeps a steady hand at her back. "Okay?"

She succeeds in balancing herself and walking forward a few paces, forcing herself to not double over in pain. "I'll manage, just want to get this over with."

She could almost wince at the way her voice shook slightly. He eyes the way her body is slightly hunched over but doesn't comment on it.

"I'm honestly so happy today is over." She whispers, though Four hears her.

"Oh yeah, one more thing." He adds.

The train blares again, catching them off guard. Four walks over to Tris until he was right behind her ear, and she sucks in a breath.

"Well done," He says quietly, his lips slightly curled upward.

* * *

"I'm exhausted, those idiots called us over to cafeteria at 2 am and now it's probably 5 in the morning." Zeke moans while rubbing his bandaged knee.

Tris was seated on the bed in the infirmary, trying to keep still as Tori bandaged her stomach. The only people that weren't there were Shauna and Christina.

" _Ow,_ " She gasps as Tori dabs a bunch of cool, stinging alcohol onto her wound.

"Sorry, but this is a bad bruise, how close to the shooter were you, Tris?" Tori asks, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

She clenches her teeth as Tori pulls tightly on the bandages. "Pretty close,"

"It doesn't even matter how close you were, those paint balls stung like a motherfucker, I swear the material was like an actual rock when it hit me." Lynn adds with a scowl.

"I mean, at least we won, right? Guess in a way it's worth it." Will suggests.

They all nod in agreement.

"So, you climbed the Ferris wheel, huh?" Uriah asks, breaking the silence.

Tris looks up to see him staring at her. "Um, yeah. To get a better view of where the flag might've been, why?"

He shrugs with a small smile. "Nothing, just impressive and cool, I guess."

"Yeah, pretty smart of you." Marlene adds.

"But guys, I seriously can't believe we had to go to a search party for the flag, we missed the whole action!" Al complains with a groan.

"Because life's not fair, Albert. And the world is conspiring against you." Will cuts in.

Marlene giggles. "Haha. Nice theory."

Lynn plays with the bandage on her left arm. "I better be able to use this arm later, honestly."

"It'll go away before the next game, that's for sure." Four says from the corner of the room where he'd been leaning against the wall- silent the whole time.

Tris winces as Tori gives a firm pat onto her stomach. "Alright, there we go, done."

"Didn't need to smack me." Tris mumbles while slowly pushing herself up.

Lynn laughs lightly. "How would you react if I told you that you look like a girl version of the hunchback? Quit doubling over."

"How would you react if I told you that the way your arm is bandaged makes you look like a sorry version of Thing from Fantastic Four?" Tris shoots back. "Having trouble transforming?"

Zeke bursts out laughing and clutches his shoulder as Lynn scowls. "Ow. _Ow_ Tris, stop making me laugh, _ow_."

Tris narrows her eyes at him and heads over to the door. "I'm not even doing anything, calm down."

She opens the door and leans against it for support. "Don't know about you all but I'm leaving. Get some sleep. Bye."

"Bye." Everyone says in unison.

Tris waves and leaves the room, biting her cheek as she hears the soft footsteps trail behind her.

Knowing it was Four, Tris remains silent and continues to walk until she reaches their room.

He steps forward and unlocks the door with his key. They both make eye contact briefly but then they both look away.

After Tris steps into the room, Four follows and shuts the door behind them.

Tris blows out a shaky breath and slowly eases herself onto her own bed. "Can we please sleep and talk later?"

Four exhales deeply and sits in front of her. He's silent for a few seconds before shaking his head. "Better now than later."

* * *

 **A/N- ...Hey guys, I'm sorry I didn't update, I couldn't find my Divergent book so I had to search up the freaking thing and reread the Ferris wheel scene again, because sometimes things shouldn't be messed with- you should keep it original, know what I mean?**

 **Sorry if there was errors in my writing or if it got kinda boring or shitty... And I _honestly_ appreciate the way you guys encourage me, (*Hugs through screen*)**

 **Anyway, yerp, that's it. My Winter Break started, HOORAAYY! 2 WEEKS, YAAS! I'll sleep in, honestly, I don't have anything planned. But I'll try to write more!**

 **So you all know what the next chapter will sorta be about.. Yeah..**

 **Follow, Fave, or DEFINITELY REVIEW if ya haven't already! We're at 136 reviews! That's crazy! :) And YEAH, LOVE YOU ALL! BYE! :) :): )**


	20. Chapter 20

_It is a strange thing, but when you are dreading something, and would give anything to slow down time, it has a disobliging habit of speeding up. -JK Rowling_

That's the exact quote Tris was reminded of the moment Four candidly asked, "What exactly happened after I left you in Tori's room?"

Right after that, her first instinct was to just lie, but honestly, she new that wasn't going to get her anywhere. The guy sitting in front of her (who was rather attractive) - he knew when she was lying. He knew when she was nervous. And he'd certainly know if she was avoiding something.

So Tris describes her whole experience starting from the moment he left to when she got locked in, finding the screen and buttons, her phone not working- She makes sure to skip the part about reading Zeke's profile and mentions how she kept hearing noises when she was clearly alone.

Tris mentions the way she could see him on the screen when he was in the infirmary, and finally, when the door opened, she was going to run over to the Infirmary when she got the feeling that someone was following her.

Four rakes a hand through his hair with an indecipherable look flashing in his eyes as Tris rushes through the next parts, talking about the metal noises, how she was knocked out, and how she had to go through some type of simulation.

"Is that the punishment you were talking about with Uriah?" He asks quietly while glancing down at her hand.

Tris nods. "Yeah. It's just really weird though, what if the place where we're playing the games is just a plain room? But it works like some type of simulation?"

He grabs hold of her right hand, the one that was injured from banging the door and then again from when she was dangling from the Ferris wheel. After turning it over a couple of times, he sets it back onto her lap.

Tris curls her fingers together in attempt to trap the warmth he'd left tingling there. She'd never really felt that with someone other than him.

Four shakes his head. "I don't know, that'd be really weird, is that even possible? Do we have the technology to even do this stuff? To have an empty room but everything we see is so real?"

Tris shrugs. "Who knows?"

"And if it really is a simulation, how are we getting hurt in real life?" He adds, causing Tris to frown and shrug again.

They're both silent for a full minute before Tris watches her phone screen light up. Forcing herself to stand and ignore the stabbing pain in her stomach, she walks over to the counter and reads the text that she'd received.

TORI- _**I need you to come in the Infirmary. Bring Four.**_

Tris feels her face scrunch up into confusion, and then frustration. "Honestly, I'll never get to freaking sleep."

Four walks up beside her and leans over her shoulder to glance at her phone screen. She tries to hold her body still and not go shaky from under his warm breath.

"Okay, let's go." He states after a moment.

When he pulls away Tris slides her phone into her pocket and shoves her sandals on. After grabbing her room key she follows Four out the door. The walk is silent and the air around them is heavy with awkwardness.

"I still don't understand what happened in your game." Tris slowly states, deciding to break the silence. "I saw you with Eric, and I saw you were badly hurt in the Infirmary too after the game."

Four walks a bit more slowly while heaving a sigh. "It's... I don't know, it wasn't much of a game, more like... a fight?"

Tris pauses for a second before continuing her pace. "A what?"

"Whoever knocked the other person out first would need to go climb the ladder and press the button at a platform."

Tris feels her eyes widen. "But you guys are both freaking..." She trails off, not knowing how to finish her sentence without embarrassing herself. What was another word for strong and muscular?

She looks over at Four to see him looking down at his shoes with a ghost of a smile. But it's not the full and actual smile he used to give.

When was the last time he'd smiled at her anyway? Or when she smiled back?

"Okay, so you both are really _determined_ , but how did you get so badly hurt?" She remarks.

Four frowns, all traces of playfulness gone. "Well, Eric being an arrogant ass, he decided that instead of playing the game, we'd have to fight till the death. And he..." He looks at her with an almost caring look in his eyes, like he's about to tell her something but is stopping himself. "...Yeah. Obviously I wasn't going to lose, and die too."

Tris narrows her eyes, noticing the way his body was tense like he was remembering something unpleasant.

"He told you something else that bothered you," She comments, observant. "What'd he say?"

There's a long silence.

"How's your stomach?" Four asks while rubbing the back of his neck nervously and looking away.

 _...What?_

His face looked strained. She's about to give him hell for changing the topic, but then something makes her change her mind.

"Hurts like a motherfucker." Tris states after a second of glancing at him oddly. "But I can live with it."

She's surprised at the anger in her tone.

Tris starts to walk ahead of him to leave him alone but he obviously wasn't having that.

Four abruptly places a hand on her shoulder to stop her from walking, and she turns to face him, eyes narrowed.

She wanted to just talk with him, have a good time, but they couldn't even have a proper conversation together anymore.

 _My fucking goodness I wish I never even met this guy._ Tris thinks frustratingly.

"Look, Tris, I don't why it's taking me so long to-"

"AYYYYY! Tris and Four are here!" Someone yells happily.

They both turn around to see Zeke coming their way with Shauna not that far behind.

Four meets her eyes for a second before turning toward Zeke. "Hey, why're you here?"

"Tori called us." Shauna speaks up. "I think she called everyone here too, look behind you."

Tris glances behind her to see Al and Lynn walking up to them. Al gives Tris a grin and after a moment she reminds herself to give a small smile in return.

"Well I don't think anyone slept. What the fucking hell, there was honestly no point of even going back to our rooms because now we're back here." Lynn exclaims loudly with one arm waving around and the other cradled to her chest.

Shauna shrugs. "When did _anything_ here ever happen right, Lynn?"

"Hi Tris! Did you get some sleep?" Al asks, stepping close to her as he finally reaches everyone.

Tris shrugs. "Um, sadly no. Maybe later, I guess."

Zeke points toward the Infirmary room. "We should probably go inside."

Tris feels a large arm wrap around her shoulders. "Come on, let's go then." Al says.

For a second Tris is about to make an excuse, but then again, Al was being nice. So she bites back a remark and lets him lead her over to the door. As he holds it open for her, Tris speeds ahead and immediately notices Tori's worried look, and the mess around them.

"What the hell happened here?" Lynn whistles as they take in the papers and wrappers scattered around them.

Tris feels her heartbeat speed up. _She found out that I looked through the profiles._ She walks ahead, forcing herself to give room for everyone else.

 _No, she couldn't have known, we're in the Infirmary not her room._

"Basically, there's been a change of plans." Tori states.

"Yeah, we can't sleep. That's the change." Uriah answers as he walks in and holds the door open for Marlene, Will, and Christina.

Tris looks away from Christina, not in the mood to talk. At all.

"Other than that." Tori says. "Basically you won't be getting sleep for a while. Um, you... You have another game."

There's a long silence, no one can believe what they just heard.

"Excuse me?" Al asks, while walking to stand next to Tris again. "No way."

Tris glances at Al and they make eye contact. He gives her a shrug like it's his fault that they're not going to be able to sleep. Tris takes a small step away from him.

"I'm sorry guys. I don't know what's going on. I honestly feel really bad, but you're going to have to report to the cafeteria, you'll receive further instructions there."

Tori grabs a few papers scattered on the floor and neatly stacks them. "I know most of you are injured too, but hang in there, I know you'll be able to pass the next game, you've proved yourselves strong."

Tris crosses her arms lightly over her bruised stomach. "Why are you apologizing so much, yet you're claiming you don't know what our game is?"

Tori looks straight over at her. "Because I know that whatever it is, it's obviously going to be bad. I mean, you had your team challenge already, and now there's another game? It's bound to be miserable."

Tris frowns, still not believing her.

"There's not much time. Go to the cafeteria." Tori says loudly when no one moves.

Uriah is the first out the door, and soon everyone is following. Al places a hand on Tris's shoulder to lead her over to the cafeteria.

"How are you holding up with your stomach?" Al asks as they begin to walk through the halls.

"It's getting better, I'm surprised by how fast, too." Tris lies. "I'm sure it'll have fully healed by tomorrow."

Al nods. "That's good."

They walk a few more steps in silence before Al places a hand on her shoulder again. Tris fights the urge to smack him, she wasn't used to so much contact.

 _But then again, you don't mind whenever Four touches you._

She shakes that thought away and tunes back into Al.

He scratches the back of his neck. "Um, you know, I was wondering if after this is all over for now... If maybe you wanted to hang out in the training room or something...?"

 _He's asking me out. And I don't even like him in that way at all._

"Oh." Tris stammers, speechless. "Um... Yeah... When we all go I'll definitely spend some time with you."

Al frowns. "No. Not with everyone. I meant alone. By ourselves. Just the two of us."

Tris opens her mouth to speak, but thankfully, by some miracle, Zeke comes to the rescue.

"Hey, Tris. We need you in the front. I have to talk to you." He declares, glancing at Al briefly.

She gives Al a small shrug apologetically, then follows Zeke who's pulling at her arm. The moment they're out of hearing distance from Al, Tris lets out a deep breath.

"Thanks." She exhales. "I really needed to get outta there."

Zeke looks at her with a frown. "Wait, what? What was he doing?"

"I-" She pauses with a frown as well, mirroring his confused expression. "Why did you call me to the front?"

"Hmm.. I don't know..." Yet Zeke tilts his head to the left ever so slightly.

Tris slowly glances to her far left to see Four scrolling through his phone nodding to whatever Uriah was explaining beside him.

Zeke smirks, and sings quietly only for her to hear. " _Why you gotta have no clue? Don't you know he's human too?_ "

Tris snorts. "What do I not know about?"

Finally, he fully looks at her. "Damn, Tris. I can't tell if you're joking or not."

"I honestly don't-"

He shakes his head. "You're so goddamn smart and observant, yet you can't pick out this obvious detail?"

Zeke sighs, knowing Tris doesn't exactly get his point.

"I mean, think about this. Four has never glanced twice at a girl. But you...?" He hums, not finishing the rest of his sentence.

"Look, Zeke." She states, "We're not exactly in a good mood with each other right now, okay?"

They finally arrive to the cafeteria. Everyone files in and Tris takes her usual seat at the edge of the bench right next to Uriah and Marlene.

Group A was already seated as well, and Tris couldn't help but look for Eric. When her eyes finally found him, she was easily able to see the bruises near his jaw and body. Bandages were also easy to spot because he was wearing a muscle tee to show off his battle scars and muscles.

She looks away when a loud ping sounds from the screen.

 **Hopefully you got some sleep. If not, you can do so after completing your task.**

 **You are now going to take a test.**

 **This is not a competition against each team, it's a challenge for yourself.**

 **Have you ever faced your fears?**

 **Keep that in mind as you go through the door.**

 **Group A, file near the blue door in the back. Group B, file near the black door in the front.**

 **Enter together though it might not make a difference either way.**

 **Good Luck.**

There's a pause from everyone in the room before they slowly make their way to the doors they were assigned to. Tris lingers near the back and crosses her arms over her stomach. Hopefully they wouldn't be doing anything that'd hurt her too bad.

"Just go, don't wait." Shauna calls out to the front of their line.

Lynn happened to be standing directly in front of the door. After hearing Shauna, she turns the knob and steps in. Everyone else follows suit, and soon it is Tris's turn.

She takes a long deep breath before setting foot through the doorway, and since she was the last one, the door automatically slams closed behind her.

Tris is engulfed in darkness within seconds. It felt like her eyes were closed, she couldn't see anything.

"Guys?!" She yells, only to hear her voice echo back. Why was she alone?

"What the fuck?" Tris hisses in confusion and frustration. She'd literally entered seconds after Shauna did.

Suddenly, there's a dull yellow light in front of her. Far away, but close enough to see.

Slowly, she holds her arms out in front of her and begins to walk. It was such a vulnerable feeling to be walking in complete dark, feeling like any second someone could grab your body and you wouldn't even be able to see them.

There's a loud bang, Tris curses as her head smacks into glass.

The light was suddenly brighter and it took her a moment to realize it was a spotlight directly above her.

Tris yelps as something cold touches her feet. Jumping away, her eyes widen after realizing what was beneath her.

Water.

She was in a glass box with water near her feet.

And it was starting to fill rather quickly.

"Oh my God." Tris murmurs. "How the hell...?"

She immediately scoots to the very corner of the tank and presses herself against the cool glass.

Tris takes a sharp intake of breath when the water reaches her ankles. She couldn't even tell where the water was coming from, only that it was there and filling so fast.

It isn't until after the water reaches her knees that she begins to panic and take her situation more seriously. The water wasn't stopping, there wasn't a way out at all.

Tris moves so that she's standing directly in front of the glass and starts pounding her fists against it as hard as she could.

No progress.

A wave of sudden fear rolls over her. She was trapped. She couldn't get out. There was no way she could do a thing.

And she was so scared.

It was like something woke up and was screaming inside of her. This was one of her _fears_.

The water was reaching her waist.

She stares at her helpless and desperate looking reflection. She didn't want to die, she didn't want to drown, she was terrified.

The water was now passing her collarbone.

 _This can't be real, I don't want to drown._

 _I wish this could break like ice._

Then the water reaches her chin, and Tris takes her last deep breath before she is finally and completely submerged under water. But this time when she taps on the glass with her fingertips, it shatters as easily as thin ice.

Just like she'd wished for.

Now she is standing again in darkness, with another dim light up ahead.

"Okay, what the fuck is going on?" Tris yells, cold, wet, and shaken. She holds her hands out in front of her.

 _Just try to get through the hallway._

Before she can take one step, she is swept off her feet with a big wave of water.

Panic and surprise, that's all that goes through her head as her body flies to the ground.

Frantically, Tris waves her hands in front of her in attempt to break her fall but instead, her fingers clasp around something grainy and hard.

A rock.

She curses loudly as her ankle bangs straight into a jagged corner and cuts through her flesh.

Tris couldn't even speak or scream, every time she opened her mouth, a huge splash of salty water sprayed into her mouth and burned at the cuts on her body. She was being whipped around by huge waves that had seemingly come out of nowhere.

There was a deep dread filling in her stomach, and the only thing Tris wanted was to get a fine hold on the rock- except each time she got one hand to find a good grip her _other_ hand would slip right off.

She was out of control and it was driving her completely insane. Fear and despair coursed through her own tired veins.

 _Come on this can't be fucking real. Water from nowhere? Hell to the no._

Tris screams in frustration as her knee bangs into the rock again. But then that's when she notices an indent in the rock almost shaped like a hook. It was all the reassurance she'd needed.

Throwing her entire weight and concentration into that small hope, Tris jumps and tightly curls her fingers around the curve she'd discovered.

The water stops crashing around her and within seconds she is standing in a bedroom. _Her_ bedroom.

However, it is covered with mirrors everywhere.

Tris feels a frown start to take hold on her face, but it doesn't last long before she yelps in surprise as a loud banging sound comes from her window.

Turning around, Tris lets out a terrified scream. There's a bloody man trying to break in.

No, not _trying._

He'd already unlocked the latch to get in.

Frozen with fear, Tris watches as he slowly climbs inside of her room with blood dripping from his torso.

Then she turns toward her door and starts to run.

"LET GO OF ME!" She shrieks as an arm grabs hold of her, and it takes her a second to apprehend that there were more bodies behind her. Taking one glance, she sees people with mangled bodies and faces struggling to get to her.

Tris couldn't even breathe anymore. It was like she was watching herself in third person, unable to move and unable to talk.

 _No no no no no, what did I do before, how do I get out of this?!_

 _I wished for something and it happened._

 _I need to protect myself._

 _I wish for a gun._

It's like a switch is turned on inside of her, and she instinctively navigates herself toward her closet and quickly runs inside.

Her hands find cool metal almost immediately, and she begins to shoot whatever comes in her way.

Every single mangled body.

The scene around her begins to fade into black, and Tris is absolutely grateful because she didn't want to see splatters of blood anymore.

Then she's in a new room with metal walls surrounding her.

The breath is knocked out of her as she recognizes the three figures standing in front of her.

" _WHAT?!_ _Mom?_! _Dad?_! _Caleb_!" Tris cries as her legs immediately launch herself forward-

-but she doesn't make it very far before a strong arm pushes her back.

"Do it. Kill them." A man in front of her demands as he tilts his head to her. "Which one shall die first, eh?"

Tris follows the man's gaze to her body and notices the gun in her right hand. It was different than the one she had been carrying a minute ago.

"W-what?" She whispers.

"Someone has to die here first before they all do." He states while raising his arm with his own gun in hand. "If you don't choose, I will. I'll kill them in front of your eyes. I'm giving you 10 seconds."

Tris feels the tears fill her eyes as she watches her family in front of her. This wasn't real. But it _looked_ real. It _felt_ real.

" _Ten_."

Caleb smiles reassuringly. "Bea, it's okay, you can kill me first."

" _Nine_."

Tris shakes her head, the tears beginning to spill.

" _Eight_."

"Beatrice, honey, don't kill them, just kill me. It's okay, don't cry." Her dad gently tells her.

" _Seven_."

She whimpers. No. Never. Not dad either.

" _Six_."

"Beatrice sweetheart, we all love you. Momma loves you more. We all understand, go ahead, don't cry my dear."

Tris shakes her head, fast and vigorous.

Hearing her Mom's loving voice sends her over the edge. Her tears are falling with no way to stop them.

 _"Five."_

She could never lose her family. It happened once, it wasn't going to happen again.

And she knew with all her heart, that they'd be ready to sacrifice themselves for her the same way she'd always be ready to sacrifice herself for them.

Tris turns to the man and raises her gun. He snorts.

"You _fool_ , you cannot shoot _me_."

Tris scowls. "Wasn't planning on it."

Her vision becomes black as she tilts the gun to her own head and pulls the trigger.

Nothing.

She was standing in the middle of downtown Chicago at night with hundreds of security officers walking around.

There was a young guy sitting with his head against a building, not being noticed by any civilians walking past, and as Tris makes her way closer, she recognizes him insanely fast.

 _"Four?"_ She whispers.

He had a wound on his stomach and had a look of pain on his face, but as soon as he hears her voice, his expression softens.

"What? Tris?" He asks as he turns his head.

Tris watches as his eyes widen in surprise, and when she glances at her reflection from a window next to her, her eyes widen too.

She was wearing a blue sparkly sequined dress that stopped at her thighs and her hair was hanging loose right past her shoulders, lightly moving with the breeze.

Looking around her, Tris gapes at the fact that every girl around her was wearing the same thing.

Except Four was only staring at her.

He clears his throat and begins to push himself up. Tris rushes over to his side after watching him wince.

She supports him as they stand together and she tries to hold his body weight as he leans on her for support.

"What happened to you?" She asks.

Four frowns. "We need to get out of here, I'll explain later."

Tris furrows her eyebrows. _"What?"_

"Just go." He says, and Tris begins to guide him toward the alleys.

They walk for a good four minutes before a man passes by.

He whistles as he eyes Tris's body. "Damn, what a sight."

The man reaches out for Tris's waist and she gets ready to punch him, but in a flash, Four's arm whips out and shoves the man back so hard it's enough to send him a few steps away..

Four's smile is full of artificial charm. " _Don't ever do that again._ "

But despite his smile, the man is smart enough to see the fire and intensity in Four's gaze. Noting the obvious hint, he backs away and gets lost in the crowd.

Tris whips around and scowls at Four. "What the hell? I can protect myself you know."

"I saved you the trouble. He would've picked a fight."

"You idiot, you can't even stand straight." Tris hisses. "What makes you think you can fight him?"

Four looks at her with an irritated stare. "If it comes to defense, I'm perfectly fine, thank you."

"As am I, thank you." She retorts, pulling away from him.

A mistake. Four stumbles but when Tris goes to reach for him again he stands straight, hiding the strain it was causing him. "I'm fine."

Then the scene changes, and she is with Four again, however they are running with guns in their hands.

Confused, Tris glances beside her and opens her mouth to speak. "Four, what are we doing?"

He looks at her urgently. "I told you a second ago, were you not listening?" He just shakes his head. "Of course you weren't listening, why would you with everything going on around us?"

Then Tris notices the background around them. Fire. Blood. Screams and moans. Shots.

"We need to get to the evacuation center and get out of here, we're the only two soldiers left out on the field. Everyone is safe."

A bullet whizzes past Tris's shoulder, and Four immediately pulls her closer to him without breaking their pace.

Then he takes a deep breath as they turn a sharp corner. "As a soldier, I have one last thing to do here."

Tris frowns, starting to feel her breathing become quicker than usual from their fast sprint. "What?"

"Whatever happens, _no_ _matter_ what happens to me, _leave_ me and get to safety."

 _"Hell no!"_ She screams to him as they dodge another bullet. "We're getting out of this together, understand?"

Deep dread and fear begins to uncurl from her stomach.

Then there's a loud boom, and before Tris can comprehend what's going on her body is thrown to the ground by the explosion.

 _"NO FOUR DON'T DO IT!"_ Tris screams _, s_ he knows what he's going to do.

But it's too late, Four had already thrown himself on her body to shield her as well and the whole area around them turns a bright fiery red.

When the smoke clears, she realizes she was not harmed at all.

But the body lying motionless beside her?

Four.

Motionless.

Dead.

All because he felt that it was his duty to protect her even though she was fully capable of doing it herself.

Four's body melts away into blackness leaving Tris kneeling in the dark hallway alone again with tears streaming down her face.

She was so _done_.

Pushing herself off the floor unsteadily, Tris breaks into a full-on sprint through the hallway. It didn't matter that her tears were making her vision blurry, because she couldn't see a damn thing anyway.

Except the floor beneath her feet was now hard. And how did she know this? Because she could see again.

Collapsing onto the ground, she looks around her and comprehends that she is outside practically lying down on a road. There is no sunshine, but it is morning. Just dark clouds blocking the sunlight.

In front of her, there's a huge board with the names of everyone in Group B and a timer next to each name.

Tris grasps two things from the board in front of her.

For one, her time had stopped counting the moment she'd busted out of the dreaded fear hallway.

And two, the time next to her name was unbelievable.

 **00:05:24**

 _5 minutes after all that?!_

Something had to be wrong. She'd been terrified and running for her life for maybe more than 30 minutes, so how the hell was it five minutes?

Yet, the seconds on the other timers were going slow and steady so there was no way hers went faster than the others.

 _Wait._

Her timer was the only one that had stopped. No one else had come out?

 _Seriously? Last one to enter, first one to exit._

 _Beyond my imagination._

Tris brushes a hand through her now damp hair and shakes her confusion away.

Obviously, that was a bad idea, because apart from confusion, the only _other_ emotion she was feeling was fear.

Had she really just faced some of her fears?

Tris can feel the tears start to well up in her eyes and a lump form in her throat as she remembers her family. What _was_ that? They'd been so real, their faces, their bodies, their voices.

Even their personalities matched her memory perfectly.

Then the reality of it hits her. She might never see them and feel them so close like that again. Her parents were dead already.

A loud gasping noise makes Tris whip around to see Uriah stumbling through the doorway. His time stops.

About 7 minutes.

Tris makes her way over to him and rubs at her face to conceal all her pain, and she appreciates the way Uriah doesn't point out her tears as well.

"W-when did yhou g-ghet here?" Uriah asks, huge gushes of hair bursting through his move so heavily it was hard to understand him.

She gestures toward the board and Uriah's eyebrows rise as he reads the time. "Wow."

They both are silent for a minute before Tris catches the way Uriah eyes were welling up as well.

"Fucking hell, that was so damn scary." He gasps shakily, no longer caring about acting calm and strong about it. "Tris I can't-"

He trails off, not knowing how to explain the fear and adrenaline all in one sentence, but Tris nods showing that she understands completely.

Uriah places his hand on her elbow and gives it a squeeze. "I can't even think right now, everytime I blink I can see it still." He pulls his arm away from her and turns. "Is it okay if I leave you? I'm just gonna go on a run, I'll-"

"-It's fine, do what you have to do." Tris interrupts, already feeling vulnerable all over again.

Uriah gives her a nod of gratitude, then begins to run.

Tris takes a deep shuddering breath and makes her way over to the curb. She plops down onto it and brings her knees to her chest, deciding to just let her tears fall. Burying her head into her knees, she lets out little whimpers. She was tired. Extremely tired. Tris couldn't remember the last time she'd even gone to sleep. Or what about food? Had she eaten?

A stupid question, she wasn't even hungry. Who would be?

As she closes her eyes for a few seconds, she understands what Uriah is talking about. A mangled body with a bloody face stands before her every time her eyes are closed for more than 3 seconds. She was going to be scarred for a long time.

Tris decides to study her wounds. Nothing too serious, only scratches, scrapes, or bruises. The worst of it seemed to be her ankle, but she couldn't feel any pain because of all the adrenaline running through her, only a small buzz in the areas where she was hurt.

Then there's faint coughing, but immediately, Tris feels her body react in a way it never had before. A strong surge of relief and warmth all at the same time, and to top it all off, terror.

Tris knows who the body walking through the doorway is before she can even see him.

And when Four suddenly steps into view, she feels her breath get taken away.

Never had she seen such a beautiful human being in her life.

He'd sacrificed himself for her in her fear, and she absolutely hated it. In her fear, he died for her, and she was so sure for a moment that it was real and the person in front of her was a dream.

 _I said I hope we never fucking met. I might as well have said I wish he'd died._ Tris thinks in complete horror.

It was the last straw of her sanity to keep a strong posture any longer.

She jumps up from the curb and breaks into a sprint. The moment she reaches Four, she flings herself against him so hard that even though he manages to catch her he goes walking a few steps back. Before he can say anything, Tris bursts into sobs as she buries her face into the crook of his neck.

"You're okay you're real _you'refineI_ _hateyouwhy_ _didyoudieformeImsorryIwantedyoutodieididntmeanithowcanyoulookatme_?!" The words jumble into a mess as she lets out another sob and the last of her sentence is not heard.

Warmth and reassurance is all she feels from the heat radiating off of Four.

"Shh. Shh. Tris, shh I'm alive, I'm here, don't cry." He whispers over and over, yet she can hear the slight tremble in his own voice from having just gone through his fears as well.

He seats them both onto the curb and pulls Tris so close that she is overwhelmed with the sweet humming sensational buzz throughout her whole body.

Four buries his head into her hair and tightens his arms around her. Tris was too exhausted to let out another cry, instead, her body shakes uncontrollably from either fatigue or distress, she couldn't tell.

It was crazy, she only knew this guy for what? A few weeks, and suddenly he was all Tris wanted. To be in his embrace forever.

How had she lived with him for so long without even trying to hold him like she was now? It was so thrilling. She wanted to kiss him, to get lost in him, right then and right there.

Just the very thought and urge made her spine tingle.

The thought of Four dying scared her so much, she still couldn't even understand.

Tris breathes in his scent as he holds her tightly against him.

No. Wait. She was acting insane.

Little pieces of her sanity were piecing back together again.

What was she _doing?!_

Tris pulls away from Four and stares at his face, trying to study his expression. She jumped on him, did he have any wounds? Was he hurt? How did he carry her then? Did he want her off his lap? Why was she so fucking _stupid_?

Tris vigorously wipes her tears off her cheeks and begins to stand when Four opens his eyes again. His eyes search hers and she is so taken back by the intensity and exposure from his gaze. Never had she seen so much vulnerability in him until then.

He wipes a stray tear from her cheek and Tris finds herself leaning into his touch. Craving it, even.

 _Don't_. The logical voice in the back of her head tells her.

But she was so _done_.

She didn't even care anymore.

So Tris leans her head against his forehead and lets out a small breathy sigh. Four tilts his head up and brushes the most softest kiss under her eyelid.

"I'm sorry." Four whispers against her skin. "For always fighting with you. I'm just... I don't know."

Tris tries to hold her composure and not go shaky from his hot mouth on her skin. "Don't be sorry."

They're silent for a second as Four brushes his lips on the tip of her nose.

"Are you still pissed at me?" He whispers, afraid to hear her answer.

Tris pauses.

Then all she does is lift the corners of her mouth up. And when Four sees this through his half closed lids, Tris feels his mouth curve upward against her skin as well.

She couldn't recall them being like this to each other in so fucking long. It was always shouting and arguing or just complete silence.

For the first time after so long, they both smile.

And it just felt so good to finally let _go_.

* * *

 _ **A/N- Hey guys,**_

 _ **Thank you SO much for you help and suggestions, it really did help me with getting snippets of your ideas and combining them into this chapter.**_

 _ **And I know. I'm sorry. I can't even talk... or type how sorry I am for like, disappearing for months, but I wrote this long chapter to make up for it and hopefully you guys don't hate this story.**_

 _ **I think I just needed a break to deal with life and to try and get inspired by different things to use in my story.**_

 _ **Please follow, fave, or review (definitely) if you haven't.**_

 _ **I'm hoping I haven't lost all of you. :(**_

 _ **Love you all, I'm not even joking. Love you to the moon and back.**_


	21. Chapter 21

Tris was unable to leave Four's presence.

It had been ten minutes and no one else had come out of the door yet. Although she was pacing back and forth in apprehension to get rid of the nerves coursing through her veins, her feet would eventually bring her back to Four's direction, where he sat with his legs crossed on the ground.

Their eyes would meet, and after a long moment, he'd offer her a small ghost of a smile. Tris would have to begin pacing again to prevent getting sucked into his gaze.

She would do anything to relax in Four's arms, but there was some type of test still going on. She would just have to wait until after.

Footsteps.

Tris stops her pacing and turns around just in time to see Uriah come back. He looks around until he spots Tris and his eyes light up slightly. They both jog toward each other. As Tris moves in to pat him on the back, Uriah engulfs her into a slightly sweaty hug instead.

"Ugh, you're so damp and sticky!" Tris laughs as she pushes him off while slugging his arm lightly.

Silent like a fox, Four makes his way toward the both of them. Even though Tris can't hear him she is able to feel his presence.

Uriah uses his shirt to wipe his face, exposing his stomach. Before she can look back up at him again, he's already gotten his shirt back down and caught her stare.

"Enjoying the view, m'lady?" Uriah asks while raising his eyebrows suggestively, well-aware that Four is watching everything between them. She didn't really care. She was just happy Uriah was his usual self again, able to crack jokes to make the mood lift.

Tris opens her mouth to give a clever remark but is interrupted by a loud gasping.

Lynn emerges out the doorway with a pale blank expression, but crazed look in her eyes. She coughs and shakes her head as if trying to get something off her face. Finally assessing her surroundings, her panicked expression resumes to her regular cool stare as she realizes she is being watched.

 _"What?"_ She growls.

They all look away and Tris frowns as she glances at the clock.

 _ **00:24:07**_

"I wonder how long this will take." She murmurs quietly, not expecting anyone to really answer.

 _What a dumb question_. Of _course_ this would take long, they were facing their fears. Wanting to immediately go to sleep without waiting for everyone any longer was a bit selfish... But she was so tired.

"I don't think everyone will be back for a while," Uriah answers anyway as he tilts his head to the side. "Hey, I'll be with Lynn if you need me. Just gonna see how she's feeling and all."

With a quick smile, he bounces off into her direction. Tris watches him for another second, then heads over to where Four had been seated earlier. She crouches down until her bottom hits the ground and brings her knees up to her chest.

Tris tilts her head up to look at Four who was now the one pacing. Every time he reached the timer board, he'd observe the seconds tick by with an emotionless expression, then walk the opposite way. The way he moved back and forth was almost transfixing, and she feels her eyelids begin to droop with gradual weariness.

After a few moments, she rests the side of her head on top of her knees and allows her eyes to fall closed.

Assuming Four had finally given up on striding back and forth, she feels him approach her and brush against her body as he moves to place himself by her side. No longer fighting off the fatigue, Tris feels herself slip away from the world.

* * *

"Tris, get up." Someone shakes her gently.

She forces her eyelids open, wincing at the lights and stiffness in her neck.

"We're waiting on Al. Everyone else is here, look." Four murmurs as her eyes regain a clear vision.

She looks around to see everyone scattered, all having their own conversations with each other or lost in their own thoughts.

"How long have I been out?" Tris asks as she diverts her attention back to Four.

He holds out a hand for her and after a moment she cautiously wraps her fingers around his, allowing him to pull her up.

"Maybe twenty minutes. It's been 40 minutes in total and somehow Al is still going through his fears."

Tris feels her head tilt to the side. "Hm. Either he has a lot of fears or he can't snap out of it."

Four nods, distracted. "So how is everything going?"

It takes her a few seconds to realize he was talking about her. "Nothing. I'm fine... just tired."

"Hopefully it won't be too long." He sighs as he rakes a hand through his hair, making it stick up in all sorts of directions. "We all could use some serious sleep."

They stand in silence for a few minutes.

"Hey." Four says while nudging her arm.

She looks up at him and furrows her eyebrows when she sees him grinning. Eventually, her lips curl into a small smile as well. "What?"

"Nothing. Just wanted to see that." He smiles as he taps the corner of her mouth.

She shakes her head and looks the other way.

"Why are you like that?" She says into the air, not really meaning for Four to answer.

"What do you mean?" He replies after a moment.

She turns to peek at him with concealed curiosity as his eyes continuously flicker back and forth between her eyes and face.

"You just-" She pauses and shakes her head once again. "Your personality is different with different people. When you're with me-"

Tris has to cover her ears when a sharp noise sounds from the timer board. Her gaze immediately snaps toward the doorway where Al is leaning, sweat literally dripping from his hair to the hem of his shirt.

No one else seemed to notice Al. Everyone's attention was focused on the screen that was about to leave a message. Because it didn't seem like anyone else would check on him, Tris leaves Four's presence and jogs over to where Al looked like he was about to cry.

She stops about a foot away from his body. Even though he was sweating like crazy, there was no trace of any body odor, just his usual overwhelming scent of lemon.

"Are you alright, Al?" Tris asks.

His eyes flick over to hers like he was just now noticing that Tris stood before him.

"Al?" She repeats, trying to make her voice sound gentle.

He stares at her for a solid five seconds, making Tris feel incredibly awkward and uncomfortable. When he finally closes his eyes and reopens them, he exhales deeply.

"Oh my God."

Tris studies him. "What? What happened?"

 _"Oh my God."_ He says more loudly.

"Al?"

He begins to shake uncontrollably and Tris frowns. She takes a few steps forward and clutches his arm where there was no sweat. A shadow looms over her and she doesn't need to glance up to know who it was.

Hey, it's okay." She whispers softly as she makes Al take a few steps forward. "It's over, you're fine."

She was aware of all the weight he had and how weak she was compared to him. As Al begins to lean on Tris, Four has to grab the other side of Al to keep him from crushing her.

"He needs to sit down. His legs are shaking like hell." Four states, one arm holding Al, the other scratching at his chin.

"Al, I'm gonna help you sit down okay? Yeah, easy, alright, just relax." She continues to mutter to him, though she was sure he wasn't understanding or listening to a word she said.

After Tris gets back up on her feet, she looks over at the timer board again, only to see that it displayed two words:

 **Testing Complete**

"Step back, Tris." Someone brushes past her and begins to haul Al up. Four does the same to help.

"Zeke."

"Yes?" He asks as he slings Al's arm around his neck. When he has a proper grip on him, he meets Tris's gaze.

Her mind goes frantic. She wanted to ask Zeke what exactly he meant when he mentioned Four only "noticing her" before they'd entered their fears... But she also desired to ask about something a little bit more personal.

She was smart enough to know not to even _mention_ that she'd read Zeke's profile, so she decides she was going to ask about his life instead.

There was just so much negativity in all of their lives and Tris wanted to make sure she could understand everyone's perspective. She wasn't the only one with the crappy life. She was so overpowered with her feelings that she forgot about the rest of the world. She needed to know how someone like Zeke coped. How he always had a positive vibe and cared about everyone, unlike Tris who was selfish and didn't give a fuck about what others said.

Yes, she could easily just ask Uriah... But perhaps asking someone like Zeke would be more beneficial to her. He was the older one that played the big brother role, and he was seemingly more mature and collected than Uriah.

"I uh." She goes on. Tris steps forward and Zeke leans his head toward her, knowing she wanted to whisper.

"After we've all slept and feel better can you come with me in the training room?" She peeks at Four who was no longer focused on them, but Al who was beginning to regain his right sense of mind. "I just wanna talk."

Zeke gives her a genuine smile, teeth and all. "Alrighty, Trissy. We shall talk later. I'll shoot you a text."

Tris nods while backing up. She glances at Four again. "I'll be in the room."

He stares at her for a moment before shaking his head, his voice changing into something surprisingly strong and bitter. "No, walk with me for God's sake, Tris."

She frowns as she watches Four drag Al and Zeke toward the door.

After a few seconds, Tris sighs heavily and begins to follow.

It was weird. The doorway they had gone through for their fears felt like an endless hallway. But when they entered it again, it was no longer dark and the walk was a mere five feet. It was almost frustrating. She mentally adds that to her list of possibilities for where they were. Like she'd told Four, maybe it was some sort of simulation. As logical as that sounded, it still made no sense all the same. How did they get physically injured after every game?

She doesn't ponder over it too much. Her thoughts were running around her head like a swarm of bees. She was too exhausted to think reasonably.

Tris pauses in her step and turns around, immediately spotting Lynn. If they were going in the same place, she might as well walk with her. She waits for her to catch up and continues to walk again.

"Feeling better?" She questions, breaking the deadly silence.

Lynn nods. "Sure. And you?"

"I think I speak for us all when I say I'm tired as fuck."

"Well, I genuinely think _you're_ a bit more tired than all of us combined after that failure thing... But I agree." She sighs.

They pass through the cafeteria door and walk through the black hallways. Tris would never get used to that uneasy chilly feeling she always felt.

 _"Why are you guys holding me?"_

Lynn snaps her head up and Tris follows her gaze to Al who was now standing on his own.

Four immediately steps back and crosses his arms, glad to be free, while Zeke sighs. "You were pretty unstable."

"Oh, well, I'm good now... I think."

Al rakes a hand through his damp hair and looks over at Tris and Lynn. "What's happening right now?"

Tris leans against the cool wall. "You were the last one out. Now we're just going back to our rooms to rest. It's been long."

He turns to the direction of his room. "I think I can go on from here."

"Great." Four answers automatically. Zeke has to bite back a laugh.

"Alright. Has anyone of you seen Shauna?"

"Right here!" She calls back, distant.

"Nice. Okay, see you later guys." Zeke calls back to them as he begins to make his way toward the rest of the group.

They go their separate ways, but as Zeke brushes past Tris, they give each other a look of reminder.

When the hall is empty except for Four and herself, she suddenly feels at ease.

"Finally." She mutters as she begins to make her way toward their room.

Four falls in step with her and in no time, he's unlocking their door.

They go about in the room in a comfortable silence, checking their phones, grabbing a change of clothes, drinking water, and using the bathroom. It was almost depressing how easily they were moving around in the room. They were so _familiar_ with where everything was that they had an unspoken routine. It was horrible how they were getting used to... wherever they were.

Almost as if on cue, a certain thought passes through her mind.

 _We need to find a way to get the fuck out of here._

But she would have to wait until later- when she'd slept, rested, and gotten more answers about anything and everything regarding their situation.

Tris looks in the mirror and sees a tired frowning girl with messy hair, black shorts, and a black crop top hoodie staring back at her. Her eyes travel around her body and she sighs as she remembers the huge scratch on her ankle. She screws her eyes shut and blocks out the memories of going through her fears and losing the people she loved.

Tris makes her way over to the kitchen cabinets and pulls out the first aid kit. As she begins to roll out some gauze bandage, she hears the click of the bathroom doorknob turning.

"Here, I'll do it for you." Four declares as he strides over to her.

Too tired to protest, she plops down on the couch and lifts her leg as he sits on the floor to clean her cuts. To distract herself from the burning she focuses her attention on Four, who's eyebrows were furrowed in concentration.

Her eyes rake over his face, and she marvels over how perfect and fucking attractive he was.

His eyes...

She could never seem to get over the refreshing deep blue and his dark eyelashes. His features were too pretty for a boy. Yet, here he was, the most handsome being alive.

Tris hadn't noticed until now, but he'd gotten rid of his scruff, leaving him with a smooth face. She clasps her hands together to prevent from reaching out.

As if sensing she was staring, his eyes flit over to hers, and he holds her gaze for a moment before Tris looks down at her ankle to avoid it. She moves her foot around to test the bandaging.

"Thanks."

As Four stands up Tris observes the way his muscles move from beneath his muscle tee. He was also wearing some athletic shorts like her.

Tris gets up and sits down on her bed as Four closes the lights in the room, leaving them in a darkness. The only thing keeping them from being plunged into total darkness was the light radiating from the screen, which read... nothing.

"Why doesn't the screen have a time?" Tris asks aloud after Four gets settled into his bed.

He turns toward the screen, but Tris can't make out any of his facial expressions.

"Either that means there's going to be another surprise game soon or we're finally getting a fucking break."

"Hm, I like the latter." Tris sighs as she sinks into her pillow.

They fall silent, and it doesn't take long for quiet steady breathing to fill the room.

Just from one person.

Tris sits up again instead. She was tired, but she didn't feel good. Every time she closed her eyes, she'd get this intense feeling that someone was watching her. It wasn't cameras- she knew that for sure because they'd both searched the room and came up empty.

It was the disturbing images of her fears.

That, and flashbacks of getting captured just a couple days ago. She didn't realize how traumatizing it was until that moment- when she wasn't distracted anymore and all her thoughts could rush back to her with no interruptions.

She'd gotten _locked_ in a room.

Someone had _followed_ her.

Someone fucking _hit_ her hard enough to knock her out.

There were also metal noises, and that wasn't even the first time she'd heard them before.

Tris reaches for her phone and squints as the bright light burns her eyes. She runs her fingers across the new smooth screen and logs in. 12:40 am.

She presses on random apps mindlessly in hopes of getting bored enough to fall asleep when she ends up in her contacts. As she flicks her thumb up to scroll through the names she suddenly realizes everyone was there except for one person. Myra.

 _"Shit."_ Tris gasps forcefully and claps a hand over her mouth. She looks over at Four's sleeping figure and examines him for a few seconds, making sure he hadn't stirred, before looking back at her phone.

No, she'd thrown her phone hard enough to break it. They couldn't have seen her contacts. All they did was replace her phone. If they knew, she'd be eliminated by now.

Her eyes flick over to Four again. His chest moved up and down at a gentle and consistent pace. Tris has an internal battle with herself. Should she go or should she not?

 _Better now than never._

Tris gets up from the bed slowly and slips on her sandals. It was past midnight. That meant Myra would be in the cafeteria like she usually was.

She _had_ to get her phone number again. Myra was her only source of getting to know about Group A. It was better to get the number as soon as possible or else she wouldn't get an opportunity like this again.

Tris is careful as she exits the room without a sound and runs her fingers against the cool wall to help guide her to the cafeteria. Something was different this time.

She was terrified.

Feeling paranoid was the last thing Tris needed. The more steps she took, the faster her breathing rate increased until she has to force herself to stop.

 _Get a fucking hold of yourself, someone will fucking hear you._ Tris thinks to herself angrily.

She crouches down and takes multiple deep breaths to steady her heart rate before forcing herself to walk slowly. Maybe that's why they were getting a break. They all were so mentally fucked.

Tris shakes that thought away. Everything was fucked the moment she received that Skype call.

She turns through the final hall and quietly pushes the door to the cafeteria open.

 _"Myra?"_ Tris calls out with a soft voice as she lets the door close gently behind her. She takes a few steps forward until she whips out her phone to use as a source of light like the last time she'd come.

 _"Myra."_ She calls out again.

Tris frowns and strides over to the black table. She turns off her phone, knowing there were cameras that might be able to pick up her light if they really were watching.

She exhales heavily as she runs a finger across the table. No one was here.

"Fuck it." She finally declares as she turns around. She heads toward the door and just as skillfully, she's out.

As she begins to walk back, she pauses and checks the time on her phone. 12:58 am.

 _"-you'd have to switch every camera you were watching through every five minutes or so."_

Tris purses her lips and squats low as she slips off her shoes, reminded of the day she and Four had gone out and found the Group A infirmary. They both had gone with only their socks on their feet. He had also informed her that every five minutes, the cameras would switch which would give them enough time to move around without anyone seeing her.

With her gladiator sandals in one hand and her phone in the other, she begins to walk as soon as the time strikes 1:00 am. Her feet are swift as she practically slides across the cold floor.

 _"Hello?"_ A voice hisses.

Tris feels her heart drop all the way to her toes as she immediately presses her back against the wall.

Of course. No matter how hard she tried, she would never be able to keep quiet.

 _"Where the hell are you?"_

Tris holds her breath as she hears footsteps from the other corner of the wall. It sounded like a male's voice.

 _"Just tell me where you are."_

She bites the inside of her cheek as she peers past the wall she was hiding behind and has to suppress her gasp.

Blue clothing. In black territory.

Tris forces herself to stand straight. Actually, she stands with a sudden burst of indignity. She was so close to her room, meaning that whoever that guy was shouldn't be in their area.

As soon as the footsteps begin to walk near her, she comes out of her hiding spot and bumps her shoulder directly into whoever was passing by.

"Oh, _fuck."_ He swears in surprise as something flies out of his hand.

Tris uses her hand to turn on her phone and flashes the dim light on him. "Who the actual fuck are you and why are you here?"

The figure holds his hands up. "Let me grab my phone first."

Tris holds her breath and stares at the way he cautiously crouches down to grab his phone which had skidded a couple feet away from them.

 _He was talking on the phone with someone._

"Hang up," Tris says sharply.

He taps the red button on his screen, but the writing was too small for Tris to see who he'd been speaking with.

"Don't run. I can beat the shit out of you." She continues, her voice growing more vicious with every word, though she was actually petrified.

"I'm sure you can." He replies as he holds his hands up near his head. Tris doesn't take the time to wonder if his comment was legit or sarcastic.

"I'm Matthew." He finally answers and holds out his hand. Tris stares at it until he lets his arm fall back down beside his thigh.

"Matthew." She repeats, letting the name roll around her tongue. He tips his head to the side. "Matthew, why the hell are you here?"

His smile drops. "I-"

She waits for him to continue his sentence, but he never does. He just stares at her, eyes trailing all over her face and body. Observing. Studying. Instinctively, Tris takes a step back but keeps a rigid posture.

"You were talking with someone." She nods her head over at his hand which clutched his blue phone. "Call them back right now."

"What?"

"Call them right now." She repeats.

"Why? Tell her-" He immediately stops his sentence and Tris raises her brows.

"Tell _her_ that whatever you were planning is canceled," She finishes as she slowly backs into the wall beside her. "You were going to meet up with her."

Matthew stares at her in bewilderment for a second before grabbing his phone. As he scrolls through his contacts, he speaks without glancing up at her.

"You know, I'm only calling her because I didn't want to meet up with her in the first place."

Tris opens her mouth to ask him what he meant by that, but he turns around and places the phone near his mouth. It takes only one ring for the girl to answer.

Tris strains her ears and hears a muffled 'Where _the hell are you? What happened?'_

Matthew turns his head away from her. "Nita, it's too risky. Go back."

 _Who the hell is Nita?_ Tris thinks momentarily

 _'what do you mean?'_

"Look, there's someone here. I can see them. I'm calling it off."

They bicker for several more seconds before it finally seems like Matthew wins their argument. As soon as he hangs up, he looks back at Tris.

"Nita... She's a bitch." Matthew laughs quietly.

"Look, can you just tell me why you were here? You're not supposed to be here."

He frowns. "It's not important, really."

"That's not an answer."

"Sure it is."

"No, that's dodging the question," Tris replies while standing straight again, hoping to look intimidating.

When he tilts his head to the side again and studies her face, Tris feels her eyes narrow. "Why the _fuck_ do you keep doing that?"

"What am I doing?" He asks, starting to feel amusement.

"I don't know, you tell me."

Matthew watches her with a lazy smile before shrugging.

"Well where else am I supposed to look, I'm talking with you, aren't I? Should I look at the wall?"

Tris crosses her arms.

Matthew shrugs again as though he has all the time in the world. "I don't know. I just... find you captivating."

 _Oh, fuck off._

"Matthew. What were you and Nita gonna meet up for? And why here, of all places?"

He exhales slightly. "I told you, it's nothing. Not a big deal. We were only looking for Nita's roommate."

Tris frowns and is about to give up when an idea hits her.

"This... roommate. Does this roommate usually leave his or her room?"

"Yes."

"A girl?"

Matthew takes a deep breath, then shakes his head in resignation. "Yeah. Myra."

 _Myra. I knew it._

"When was the last time you saw her?" Tris is surprised about the concern she feels for her.

Matthew doesn't pick up on her sudden worry. "She came back to her room, but she left again. I don't know, I thought I'd follow her except she heard me and she turned into your territory."

"So it's partially your fault."

"What?"

"You were reckless with your walking. She heard you and freaked out. I don't think there's anything to worry about, Myra will be back after a while to make sure no one is on her trail."

She rakes a hand through her hair, feeling that she could trust Matthew for some reason because he was so willing to be honest back. "If you don't mind me asking... Can I have Myra's number?"

"Why?"

Tris bites the inside of her cheek. This was pretty unsafe, but she didn't think Matthew would do anything. "A couple days ago or so I got her number. I don't have it anymore, but I'd like to get it back."

Matthew smiles slightly as if he finds something comical. "So we both were out looking for Myra. Man, I wish I could have two hot people trying to find me if I went missing."

Tris frowns in disapproval. _What am I doing?_

"Look, just give me her number." She asks, her tone becoming hard.

She hands over her phone and watches as his thumbs move across her screen. When he gives it back, Tris doesn't meet his gaze.

"Thanks." She mumbles.

"It was my pleasure meeting you and all, Tris."

She glares at him. "Don't ever speak of this encounter."

He frowns from her unexpected discourtesy but doesn't say anything.

Tris turns around and practically strides all the way back to her room, leaving Matthew to find his way back alone.

After fishing out her key from her pocket and entering the room, Tris exhales a deep breath of relief. She'd made it back.

Tris lets the door slowly fall closed behind her, tosses her gladiator sandals to the side, and instantly makes her way over to her bed. As she gets under her covers she opens her phone again. 1:27 am.

She'd been talking to Matthew for so long.

Tris scrolls through her contacts and feels her eyebrows furrow.

Not only did Matthew add Myra's number, he'd added his own as well.

Tris shuts her phone off and slips it under her pillow. She'd had enough for the day, and she was exhausted.

As she shuts her eyes, she wills for her body to relax.

Sleep is quick to devour her.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Hey guys. It's been long, and i could cover this entire chapter with my apologies, but im sure ya'll are tired of them, haha. i'm sorry. So sorry.**_

 ** _But i'm back and have gotten my shit together. New updates every FRIDAY... i realize i've probably lost all my readers, but there are still a few who keep coming back to check on this story, and i appreciate every single one of you._**

 **Again, updates every friday.**

 **i promise.**


	22. Chapter 22

"Ha, let's try that again, shall we?"

Tris lets out a frustrated breath. "You can't expect me to actually knock you on your ass this early."

Zeke gives her a grin. "Of course I do. And it's only 11 in the morning."

He holds out a hand to help her up, which Tris gladly takes. She reaches up to tie her hair into a high ponytail after standing.

When she's sure Zeke isn't paying attention, she runs swiftly and brings her leg up to smash her foot into his face, but before she can even turn her body to gain momentum, he's caught her ankle.

Tris slams into the blue mat shortly after.

As planned, they'd finally gotten a chance to meet up in the morning. What Tris had really wanted to do was talk, but Zeke insisted they practice fighting with each other for at least 20 minutes instead.

"I'm not even going to get up this time." She moans as she rolls over on her side.

"You're not even trying."

" _Yes,_ I _really_ am!"

Zeke rolls his eyes. "You expect me to believe that."

He was right, her heart wasn't into it.

"You're lucky you didn't hurt my actual bandaged ankle you piece of shit. And why are we even doing this?" Tris grumbles the last part as she pushes herself on her elbows. The room was slightly spinning before her and she has to squint her eyes to make it stop.

"Because you think you can beat Eric up. And I can't always save you."

"Eric? Why is this about Eric? I thought this was some type of morning workout. I told you, I can protect mys-"

"Don't even _."_ Zeke interrupts.

He seats himself beside her as she flops back down onto the mat again.

"I'll just carry a knife beside me at all times." She sighs while flicking her gaze over to Four.

She stares almost as if in a trance as he stands with his feet apart and a loose composure. After finally deeming his positioning right, he takes a step forward and lets the knife fly, giving a satisfied nod as it hits the bullseye before moving back to the table to grab another one. Shauna applauds him and he gives her a modest smile.

 _Did he always lick his lips while he was focused?_

"You have two choices, either you can keep making googly eyes at my best friend, or you can actually talk to me."

Tris snaps her eyes back to Zeke who was looking at her with a straight expression. If it weren't for the way his jaw twitched as he held back his laugh, Tris would've actually thought he was serious. She brings her leg up to kick him and this time, he makes no move to stop her as it makes contact with his side.

"Shut up."

Zeke shrugs and brings his knees up to wrap his arms around them. "So?"

Tris glances at Four once more before sitting cross-legged to face Zeke.

"I just wanted to ask you a few questions."

"Oh really? Dammit, I thought you wanted to dance in front of me. I was so ready."

Tris smacks his arm again. "Literally Zeke, who gave birth to you?"

"Hana Pedrad, mother of Uriah and the hot and sexy, Zeke." He answers while twirling his wrist in the air.

 _How Uriah-like._

Tris tilts her head and feels a grin take hold of her face. "I would love to meet her."

There's a small silence between them as Zeke smiles back and looks up at the ceiling in private thought.

"She would love you." He claims quietly before clapping his hands together. "Enough of that, now what's the deal?"

Tris purses her lips in thought. "Zeke, I just..."

He watches her struggle to find her words.

"How do you do it? How do you act like everything is fine? Keep your shit together? Stay calm. Composed."

She shakes her head because she doesn't know how to put the jumble of thoughts in her mind into words. But Zeke stares intently at the ceiling in contemplation.

"You're asking me?" He finally answers with a raise of a brow. "You seem to 'have your shit together' in front of everyone all the time."

"No, I really don't. You saw yourself along with everybody else, I freaking snapped at your brother." She exclaims while hopelessly throwing an arm into the air. "And I try so _hard_ not to lose my mind, but it's like..."

Tris squints her eyes. "I think the moment I came here, I became so much more vulnerable and emotional. I can't do anything without... crying."

Zeke laughs. "And that's _not_ normal?"

She shakes her head. "For me, it isn't."

He frowns as he lifts a hand to his chin. "If I'm going to be honest, I didn't think you were normal even before this place. The first couple of days, you had the most serious attitude. You acted like a robot, no offense."

"None taken." Tris replies automatically.

Zeke pauses. "Hm. You're asking how I stay _positive_ all the time? _Oh_ , I don't know. This is going to sound so dumb but all you need to do is not give a fuck. And by that, I don't mean shut down all your emotions- just don't give a shit about the negativity. For example, if people are calling you names, don't be angry and miserable, laugh and make fun of them too."

He stops. "Wait, actually, that's not positive."

"I get it, it's more of an instinct to you," Tris adds with a small smile.

"Well. I guess it _became_ in instinct. But Tris, we've all had horrible experiences in our life. For me and Uriah, we've really had to build up our confidence and prioritize ourselves. If there was a problem, there's no one else to fix it expect us, so why not solve it right away? Or prevent it from becoming big in the first place?" Zeke shrugs and places a hand on Tris's knee. "It's honestly all part of life. Everyone goes through struggles, some earlier than others."

Tris peers at Zeke's hand as he gives her knee a squeeze before returning to his side. "Zeke, I don't understand. What did you do to cope with struggle? I completely changed who I was as a person, I lost myself."

There's a small silence between them again as Zeke reflects on something. To give him time to collect his thoughts, Tris looks back at the knife table, where Four had his arms crossed against his chest. Shauna was gripping the knife so hard her fingers looked white. She didn't have to be close to know Shauna was being told to relax. Turning back to Zeke, she watches as he finally glances up and stares at Tris blankly.

"My dad." He chuckles bitterly. "He often left the house when we were young. My mom and dad fought a lot. We uh, we were _young_ so at the time so we didn't understand what was happening. But we were old enough to dislike our father."

Zeke waves a hand in front of him as if he's swatting at a fly. "It's all a blur now, but one day, my dad was gone for a _while_. Apparently he slept with some waitress and as usual, he came back home begging for forgiveness but my mom wouldn't let him in. He decides he's going to leave once and for all, so he literally sneaks into the house somehow and grabs me and Uriah. He basically tries to run away with us. He doesn't even have a car."

He squints his eyes. "I don't think I'm remembering details correctly. Something like that. I can't remember anything from that night except his death. He got run over by a car in _front_ of Uriah and me. It was dark and he was running with us, I think. Didn't see the car in time. He died on the spot."

Tris watches Zeke as he rubs at his eyes. "I don't know, I'll never clearly remember what happened. I've probably told like 10 different versions. There's only one part I'll never forget, and that's the fucking part where his guts spill out as his body is flattened."

She scans his face for any miserable emotion but finds none, only a hint of distress. _That is what I'm trying to ask you. How did you just tell me that without breaking down?_

Several seconds pass by until Zeke lets out a breath and stares at her again. Tris gives him a reassuring smile, then looks down.

If he trusted Tris enough to talk about his past, then no matter how much pain it'd cause her, she was going to do it too.

She flicks at an imaginary lint on her shorts. "I had a great life. Strong family bond. My mom, dad, and older brother, Caleb. There was a birthday party and we were going to be taking these pictures. I forgot my shirt at home, and there was this theme where everyone would wear white. It was Elia's birthday. Sweet and intelligent little girl. I didn't want to stick out with my blue dress when she should be the center of attention, so I sent my mom to go get it for me."

Tris looks to her side at the other mats stacked messily in a pile so that Zeke wouldn't see her agonizing over the memory. "My dad went along with her too. Maybe 10 minutes later, there was a phone call from some lady I didn't recognize calling from my mom's phone. There had been an accident."

Her voice shakes and she has to swallow a couple times to steady it. "I ran. Caleb followed. There was so much blood... five cars but only two looked fatal. My mom was stuck _in_ the car and I remember my dad's fleshy twisted arm from under-"

She suddenly gags and covers her mouth to prevent Four and Shauna from hearing.

"They both?" Zeke questions, his voice no louder than a whisper.

Tris nods. She brushes her baby hairs from her face. "I couldn't... There was too much glass and... Caleb tried to hold me back. But I ran forward because I didn't care."

Tris exhales deeply as she screws her eyes shut. "And do you know what the worst part is?"

"What?" He asks quietly.

"They had their arms wrapped around each other. They tried to save the other, which was why they completely missed the airbags."

When Zeke doesn't say anything, she continues. "My brother stayed with me, but when he finally decided I could live on my own, he left with his girlfriend. That was after a year. I have my own apartment."

"How old are you, Tris?" He inquires.

She laughs and rubs at her eyes until she sees vibrant colors. "I was 17 when it happened. Now, I'm 19." Tris has to squint her eyes to focus on his face. "It's weird. I told Uriah how my parents died. I don't know why it feels harder saying it to anyone else."

"It's alway easy to talk to Uriah." He answers as if that was all the explanation she needed. Tris sees him hesitate. "Your dad... Is it still fresh in your mind? His arm? The whole scene?"

She nods slowly.

"Do you remember after Uriah's game, you got sick? I came to check on you to see if you were alright. Was it... was it because Rita reminded you of...?"

"Yes." She whispers.

"And in Christina's game, Molly's leg got stuck in the rocks. You threw up after we all saw it on the screen. Was this also for the same reason?"

Tris screws her eyes shut from the memory. When she opens them, she can see Zeke nodding in thought as he searches her face with concern, and she rubs her eyes again.

"When you do that, you remind me of Caleb." She murmurs. "He is so... smart and _meticulous_. One look and he could tell exactly what's wrong."

"Huh," Zeke responds, his voice low. "You just described yourself."

 _Quite the opposite._

She tightens her ponytail to avoid eye contact as Zeke taps his fingers against his knee. "I'm going to offer you some feedback. Narrate your situation from my perspective."

Tris chews on her lip in consideration before finally allowing Zeke to speak.

"I think what happened with you is so recent that you're still not over it. You keep asking me how I moved from my past, and I'm sure you must wonder that about everyone."

He waits until she faces him again. "But what you need to understand is that everyone is different. For many of us here, things happened to us when we were small. You need more time to heal."

He shakes his head in slight irritation. "Not even that, you needed comfort from the people around you. Or _someone_. Your brother, he found his comfort with his girlfriend and left." His voice is low as he enunciates the next sentence. "I know you think he helped you, but he left you. He left you alone and you just... shut down. Like you said, you lost yourself."

"So I'm glad you opened up to me, Tris," Zeke tells her as he gestures in her general direction. "You said you became more emotional and vulnerable ever since we got kidnapped here, but I really think it's been for the better. Don't keep blaming yourself. You need to accept it and stop letting it affect your decisions in life. _Especially_ in this goddamned place. Okay?"

"Okay." She whispers.

"What?"

" _Okay_." Tris repeats, voice firm. "Okay."

But Tris was not 'okay'. This was the fourth person that had given her the same advice, _it wasn't your fault, move on._ Tori, Caleb, Four, and now Zeke.

Except it didn't matter how many times someone told her, she would always feel guilty.

And it sucked. That she couldn't listen to Four's advice. She couldn't even listen to her own fucking brother either.

Zeke leans back against his palms and exhales as Tris traces the stitches on the blue mat. She didn't want to talk about her past anymore.

"You keep worrying about Eric and me." She finally states, moving on to her next question. "And you're right, there's always someone 'saving me' from him. Why? Why do you care? What did he _do?"_

The friendliness on his face melts away. Talk about ruining the moment.

That's all it takes for Tris's mood to shift from being neutral to vexed. _Why won't anyone fucking fill me in?_

"You're not going to tell me." She deadpans.

"No, I-"

"You _what?_ If you're going to tell me to stay away from him, I need to know why."

Zeke sucks his cheeks in as his face remains inexpressive.

"Fine. Four wouldn't tell me shit. He doesn't like to _talk about it._ Now you, you _insist_ I stay away from Eric because he has me as his next target. But you're not telling me either? I'm pretty sure even Lynn knows! You know what? Just forget it, I'll ask Uriah. You're right, it _is_ easier to talk to him."

"Alright, Tris, fine. Just... sit back down and lower your voice." He reasons before she can continue with her outburst.

Tris follows Zeke's gaze as it flits over to Shauna and Four, who'd both turned from their knife lesson to stare at them. Four catches her eye and searches her face, but Tris quickly looks away.

She pulls at the strings of her hoodie and seats herself further away from Zeke. She didn't even realize she was standing and practically raising her voice loud enough for them to hear.

Zeke shoots a smile over his shoulder but Tris doesn't turn around. She waits until he finally interlocks his fingers together after countless glances behind her to make sure Four and Shauna were no longer listening.

"You better hope for your life they didn't hear that." Zeke hisses.

Tris bites her lip. "I wouldn't have necessarily cared if they did hear."

Zeke scowls at her, then rubs his forehead in defeat. "No one knows how and where Eric came from. He just... appeared."

He sighs at her irritated expression. "One day no one knew he existed, and the next day, he's walking down the street as if he's lived in our area his entire life."

"The city is big, he probably-"

"I'm pretty positive Uriah and I have gone in every single corner of Chicago- we've seen just about everyone." Zeke blows out a gush of air when her face still doesn't show understanding. "Just imagine your own home. One random day someone sits down and starts eating breakfast or walking around as if he's lived with you since forever. That's... weird, right? That's how Eric was. He walked down our street like he knew exactly where he was going. As if he'd walked the paths he was going multiple times."

"Alright, so he fits in very well." Tris prompts, waiting to hear what was so bad about him. She patiently waits for him to choose his words.

"He just... walks up to a lady and-"

His voice falters and Tris feels her gaze turn into a glare. "Tell me."

Zeke mumbles something under his breath.

"He what?"

"He grabbed her," Zeke states cautiously. "slapped her, and pulled her to the back of a building."

Tris remains quiet. "Where were you when this happened?"

"It was night. You know those little tables outside of ice cream or coffee shops? Me, Uriah, and Four were sitting there across the street. It was quiet. Eric stood out because we always went out for ice cream, so to see this random guy walking past- we noticed."

Tris looks down at her hands and shuts her eyes in an attempt to picture the scene in front of her. When was the last time she'd been out eating with friends? Perhaps with Caleb, or those mandatory hangout sessions you needed to have with people to keep relationships steady. Oh how awful those were, Tris would eat her ice cream in silence, offering a fake smile or distant nod to act engaged into the boring conversations in front of her.

She ends up illustrating a coffee shop in her mind. A small shop in the corner with colorful decor everywhere. Hidden, but with the best coffee and snacks. It was the shop she'd go to with her father almost all the time.

The shop where she no longer liked going to, because that was where _the_ accident happened.

Tris imagines herself going to the counter and being handed her order right away after being recognized. Coffee, and a brown bag of chocolate croissants. Like a routine, she steps out the shop after hearing the sound of the little bell and seats herself in a small chair with an umbrella covering the top of her head.

The air is cool but still. So still, she could hear the sound of her jeans rubbing against each other every time she moved her thighs. Then, a man walks down the sidewalk across the street. She was the only one out, and she watches him stroll with purpose to the side of an apartment building, where a woman probably a few years older than her was placing her trash.

He reaches her and suddenly darts his arm out. The sound of his palm slapping against her face echoes into the quiet night. Like the sound of skin hitting metal. He catches her by the waist before she can slam onto the ground, smacks another hand over her mouth to suppress her scream, glances around, and pulls her into the little dark alley.

"Keep going," Tris instructs with her eyes still shut. "What did you do next?"

"We got up and tried to run across the street like our life depended on it. When we reached the side of the building, he wasn't there. Like I said, he _knew_ his way around and he somehow dragged this lady through a bunch of pathways to get in a hidden alley."

Tris can feel the panic course her veins as she blindly runs across the street, food long forgotten. She sprints through the alley and stops, only the sound of her own fast breathing evident. She was alone, the man nowhere to be seen.

"So did you just leave?"

"No, at first we decided we'd split up. But, Four started running and we just followed him. We came to a dead end."

Tris opens her mouth, then closes it when she sees Zeke isn't done.

"That's where we saw." His face looks like he's swallowing something painful as he stammers. "We saw Eric with the lady lying on her stomach, blood everywhere. She was facedown, and Eric was crouched over her."

"What was he doing?" Tris questions, cringing from her own imagination of blood pooling from the woman's head onto the pavement underneath her.

"I'm not sure."

Tris finally opens her eyes, freeing herself from the images of the scene. "What do you mean you're not sure?"

Zeke shakes his head. "Four... beat the absolute crap out of him before we could blink."

"How long ago was this?" Tris inquires after a long moment.

Zeke crosses, then uncrosses his arms. "Maybe when I was 17 or 18."

He stands suddenly. "I'm starting to get a cramp. Let's practice as we talk."

Tris stretches after pushing herself upright and walks a few steps backward.

"Was the lady okay after?" She demands, "Were you able to save her?"

They both take their stances. "Yes. Alive and well after a few days."

Zeke bounces toward her and swings an arm toward her head. Tris ducks instantly.

"Nice reflex."

Tris blows out a quick breath and makes a show of swiping at her forehead.

He flicks his head to the side to get some of his hair out of his face. "Tris, I just want you to be careful, Eric is fucking sick. He didn't show any emotion at the scene. It's like he enjoyed it."

She doesn't say anything. She didn't know _what_ to say.

They circle each other and he tilts his head to the side when he realizes Tris isn't going to respond. "Any more questions?"

Tris blocks Zeke's next punch with the back of her arm. She fakes a right, then lightly thumps his stomach.

"Can you tell me what Four's personality is like? Even before the games?"

Zeke furrows his eyebrows before understanding dawns on him.

"Are you talking about his mood swings?"

She shifts uncomfortably before jumping to her left last minute, feeling Zeke's leg brush against her thigh.

"I don't know, it's weird, Zeke, okay? I never noticed, but he's always so candid and sweet with me, but with everyone else he has this entirely different demeanor. And that just made me realize, I _don't know him_. I don't know who he really is. He switches from being nice to an aloof and intimidating guy within seconds."

Zeke's expression softens as he lowers his fists for a moment. "Four has always had... a rough start. We took him a year or two after my dad's death."

Tris darts forward and moves to elbow his ribs but he catches her wrist. He twists her arm and her back slams against his chest.

She tries to wiggle from his grasp but quickly gives up. He lets her go and she steps to the side. She really didn't feel like sparring at all.

"In the beginning, he was always so _aloof_ like you just said. He was quiet, did everything he was told, never became wild or snuck out of the house like Uriah or me. It's like, he was afraid to have fun."

Tris frowns as she looks down and lowers her voice. "Or too scared to upset your mom."

He narrows his eyes when she glances up. "What?"

"I know a very very summed up version of his past," Tris answers while studying her hands to prevent herself from showing her unsettled expression.

Zeke's voice is gentle. "He's just scared of being like his father. He refrains from showing you the violent and apathetic side of him."

She gasps when his knuckles collide into her shoulder. He probably meant for it to be soft, but it leaves a sting instead. Tris rubs her shoulder and he gives her an apologetic smile.

"I just think... I wouldn't have reacted differently with him if he was just himself."

He frowns. "Oh, Tris, he _is_ being himself. Don't be mad, just talk it out with him. But both sides, the sweet _and_ the cold are both who Four is." Zeke walks closer to her and she stiffens before realizing he isn't going to hit her. He bumps his shoulder against hers. "Kind of like you. You're not that different from these 'mood swings' either."

She looks up at him. After a second, she nods slightly in thought.

Tris brings her knee up in slow motion and pretends to knee him in between his legs. He steps back and quickly pushes her leg away.

She drops her curled fists. "I- thank you, Zeke."

"Don't thank me." He answers kindly.

Tris gives him a smile and they both step away from each other. She springs toward him and twists her body so she can finally smash her foot onto his torso. Instead, Zeke swipes his foot under her and knocks her to the ground.

She lets out a loud yelp and groans in pain.

"Zeke! Wrong leg you idiot, wrong leg." She gasps as she clutches her bandaged ankle close to her.

He crouches down instantly and holds her foot carefully to inspect it. "Shit, I'm sorry I wasn't paying attention."

"Okayyy, I think that's enough, how about we finally take a break?" Shauna calls loudly while placing a hand on each of their shoulders. "Doesn't a break sound nice? I think we've had enough of your solemn faces for the morning."

Tris hadn't realized she'd snuck up on the both of them.

"Sounds like a plan." Four remarks as Zeke gently places her leg back onto the mat. She looks up when she realizes Four was holding her sandals. He must've picked them up from the side of the mat where she had tossed them carelessly to practice with Zeke earlier. "You've both been talking for more than half an hour."

She grabs her shoes from him and slips them both on.

"You okay?" Four asks as he observes Tris with a small frown. She nods.

Zeke grins. "I was _entertaining_ her with my wild childhood stories."

"Boring her to death seemed more like it." Shauna shoots back.

"Wouldn't be hard to believe that." Four adds.

Zeke makes a face and looks over at Tris. They all burst into laughter as she pushes herself up.

In that moment, she looks around at the people in front of her, bickering away, and she smiles widely. To share a laugh among a group of friends...

She missed it.

Tris savors the feeling and enjoys the moment, for once, forgetting about the games and wanting to escape.

It could wait.

* * *

 _ **A/N- Thanks to the people that came back and reviewed, or to the new people who started following this story! I love you so much and appreciate you guys!**_

 _ **This chapter was basically just a conversation the whole time, sorry if you were ever bored, but I think Tris really needed some closure in the things that Four or anyone else wouldn't tell her.**_

 _ **Also, I'm sorry if the writing is bad or poor, it's been so long since I've written that I'm pretty sure I've forgotten how to write- so the sentences seem so basic. Don't worry, I'll improve and get more descriptive again hopefully.**_

 _ **I promise next chapter we'll get more activity though. AND more of Four.**_

 _ **Review please please please, I enjoy your responses soo much!**_

 _ **Next update is FRIDAY!**_


	23. Chapter 23

Isolation is a way for someone to truly know themselves.

It's funny. Not too long ago, if Tris was offered the opportunity to live in an isolated area, she would've taken it. To her, being alone and not having to interact with others was a great idea. Amazing.

Well, not anymore.

It gets exhausting. And it's scary. You're in this space with only your thoughts, your voice, your sounds. Every movement, every rustle, every creak of the bone- it's yours.

It eventually drives you insane.

And now, more than ever, Tris craved touch. She craved interaction, comfort, and she craved human contact.

She forgot how fun it was to laugh hard with your friends, how helpful it was to confide in others with your problems, and how refreshing it was to love oneself.

If anything, besides the danger and potential death risk- The goddamn place she was in had taught her how to feel alive again. How ironic.

Tris stares down at her fingers as she leans her head back against her headboard.

 _You're not that different from these 'mood swings' either._

Zeke had been right. Who was she to keep judging Four when she herself had the same problem?

That was something she needed to work on. Look at yourself before pointing out the faults of others.

"You're always thinking, aren't you?"

Startled, Tris looks up at Four, who had droplets of water dripping down from his hair and into the towel placed around his neck.

She didn't even hear him come out of the bathroom.

Tris looks away quickly after making eye contact.

Four tosses the towel on his bed and shuffles over to the fridge to grab a bottle of juice. When he takes a sip, he points to the drawer in between both of their beds.

"Can you toss that to me?"

Tris turns to her side and frowns as she grabs for his key and clutches it tightly in her hand. "Where are you going?"

Four shrugs before gesturing toward the door. "I don't know. I was thinking to go to the training room. I was there throwing knives the whole time because of Shauna, but I wanted to shoot guns or something else."

She flings the key at him without any effort and picks at the stitches of her bedsheet after he catches it and walks over to his shoes.

 _Just talk it out with him._

Tris nibbles on her lip.

Talk.

She was done talking for the day, she'd spoken with Zeke for how long, a half hour? Not too long ago, that would've been enough interaction for a week. But as she watches Four step through the doorway, her voice calls out, surprising both of them.

"Wait."

Four loosens his grip on the doorknob and turns slightly, an unspoken question dancing in his eyes when she sits straighter.

"Come back."

He takes one more glance behind him before stepping back into the room, letting the door fall closed softly behind him. Even though his shoes are still on, he walks toward her and stands, arms crossed against his chest.

"Is something wrong?" He inquires.

Tris knew Four had waited forever to tell her about his past, but every time he had gotten an opportunity, she'd blown him off. So, they both were free, there were no games, and she was definitely willing to listen.

"I-" She pauses. "Yes, something is wrong."

He stands still for a moment before stepping out of his shoes and seating himself in front of her. She has to lean back to prevent from falling forward when the bed dips so quickly.

"Four." She begins cautiously. Tris tries to choose her words carefully, but it was hard to think with a pair of blue eyes studying her every move.

"I realize... I haven't been fair to you. I come to you with all my little stupid issues, but I never listen to yours." She starts. "And it was extremely selfish of me to do that. You always put me as your priority and I never really did the same."

She observes his face, then frowns when he doesn't meet her eye. "I'm sorry."

Tris interlocks her fingers and sets them on her thighs. "I'm putting you as my priority as well now, and I promise I won't do anything but listen to what you have to say if you ever need to talk to me."

She has to look up after what seems like forever when he doesn't say anything, she didn't expect so much silence. But when she gazes into Four's eyes, his expression is unreadable.

"I don't..." He looks away from her, and she feels her eyebrows knit in worry.

A surge of emotions and wild thoughts flit through her mind, but even though her head was beginning to feel hot with a blind panic, she waits patiently for him to finish his sentence.

When he blows out a huge gush of air from his puffed up cheeks, that only increases her anxiety because she'd come to learn that he only did that when he was frustrated or angry.

Finally, he presses the tips of his fingers to the bridge of his nose.

"Just... don't go after I'm done."

His eyes were shut, and she feels her head tilt to the side. "Done with what?"

" _Promise_."

"I promise." She repeats in a gentle voice, hoping that her tone was able to hold the reassurance and comfort in her words so he could relax.

Four runs a finger against the water vapor that had formed on the outside of his cold bottle, and Tris watches the water droplets slide around everywhere.

It's only then that she realizes what Four was going to tell her.

"We had to go through our fears a day ago. Our _fears_." He repeats for emphasis. She nods in understanding. Yes, they had gone through the impossible. It was so surreal and crazy that it was too unrealistic to wrap their heads around. She's about to mention how she saw him in her own fears but instantly bites her tongue.

 _No, this is about Four, not me. Listen._

His voice is a whisper. "I'm afraid of..."

He never finishes his sentence, so she offers him the words to finish quietly. "Your father."

"Marcus." His curt reply is so instant that she almost flinches. Four shakes his head then. "Everything was so real."

Tris crosses her legs and sits straighter. She didn't know what to do with the silence between them, so she decides to encourage him to continue. "Do you want to tell me what you saw?"

Four rubs the palms of his hands roughly on his eyes as if trying to get a disturbing image out of his mind.

"I saw you." He states with monotone after a moment. "You and that monster in the same room with me."

He finally meets her eyes, and she forces herself to keep a neutral face when his eyes are slightly red from being rubbed so hard. "And do you know what the worst part was?"

She slowly moves her head from side to side, and he runs a hand through his hair in irritation. "I was terrified. He came at me with a belt." Four breathes. "I cowered. I heard a snap, but nothing ever hit me."

Tris wills for herself to stay still as he reaches out and wraps his fingers around her wrist. She suppresses a gasp from how chilled his fingertips felt from holding the bottle and takes slow breaths when he traces the side of her wrist.

"When I opened my eyes, you were standing in front of me, and the belt hit you right here."

She watches as his finger makes unhurried circles on her skin and Tris tries to ignore the buzz of electricity buzzing through her veins.

"You saved me." he continues with a low voice.

Tris opens her mouth to respond when he stares at her with some type of clouded emotion but finds she can't say anything.

"I don't know what to think about that." Four suddenly laughs inaudibly as he returns his hand back to his side. "And after I saw that you had blocked him, I felt this... I don't know. I got up and punched him so hard. Then it was all over. I've never stood up to him before."

Tris looks away from his hand, silently wishing he'd touch her again, and studies his expression. She wanted to know what he was thinking, did he like touching her hand, did he feel relieved telling her about his fear? Did she give him the strength to stand up to his father or was she completely looking at it the wrong way?

"Thank you for telling me." She says slowly after a moment. "Is there anything else you'd like to tell me? Do you feel okay? How are you?"

Four gives her a small smile. "I'm fine. But what about you? You seemed upset earlier when you were with Zeke."

 _We were talking about you._

"It was nothing, really. I was asking for some advice." When she sees that he was looking for her to elaborate, she continues. "I'm a very negative person. Everything that I go through, I let it take over me. I wanted to know how he stayed so optimistic."

He nods as he seems to recall something. "Yeah, they really do know how to control their emotions."

"He said they took you in."

Tris knows what she just said was risky, but she keeps a straight face and watches him sit straighter.

"They did."

"And you were a reserved kid."

"I was."

She uncrosses, then crosses her legs again. "So, why do you do that then?"

"Do what?"

"When you met me... you were so straightforward. But you're not _like_ that."

His eyes squint slightly in question. "Then what am I like?"

"I don't know." She replies, almost in frustration. "You're quiet, closed off, and remote? You don't talk to other people as openly as you do to me."

"Does that bother you?"

"I'm not sure. It's confusing. And it's weird to see you act so humorless when you talk to other people." She stops briefly. "I don't recognize you."

Four rubs the back of his neck. "Yes, I am a very unfriendly and secluded person-"

"I didn't-"

"But it took me a long time to open up to Zeke and Uriah. Anyone. To be able to sit and talk without always being so tense and looking behind my back to make sure no one was behind me." He draws in a long breath. "But with you, I don't know. I immediately felt like I could trust you. So I did."

She holds her breath after hearing this new piece of information.

"Should I not do that, then?"

"Do what?"

"Trust you?"

Tris is silent. She wanted him to trust her, but was she really to be trusted?

"What else did he tell you?" He asks abruptly.

When she doesn't say anything, his eyes narrow.

" _Tris_."

Her voice is hushed when she whispers. "About Eric."

He stands suddenly as the color drains from his face. "Right. We're done talking."

She feels her voice rise and her fists clench as the calm atmosphere in the room instantly changes. "No, what do you mean we're done? Why is he such a bad thing to talk about?"

Four grabs his bottle and clutches his key after shoving his feet into his shoes.

"Zeke told me you beat the fucking shit out of him because _he almost killed a girl._ That's a _good_ thing, Four."

When he doesn't turn around, she hops off the bed and follows him to the door.

"Four, what the hell? Why-"

"Because I couldn't bring myself to _stop._ " He fumes as he whirls around so swiftly, she has to physically force herself to stop before she rams into him. "I was so angry, I couldn't control myself."

Tris has to remind herself to breathe. Her face was so close to him, she could feel each heavy and frustrated breath tickle her cheek. She remembers Zeke.

 _He's just scared of being like his father._

"Four." She says softly. "You're not like him."

"You don't know how he's like." His response is terse.

"You told me. You said he's manipulative and heartless."

Tris feels her cheeks become hot when he takes another step closer with his brows drawn together. Her breath hitches as he leans forward so that his mouth is close enough to brush against her ear.

"You don't know enough."

When he pulls away, he opens the door, and Tris takes a step back in order to regain her composure. When her mind clears, her fire returns.

"Would you ever hit me?"

He pauses in step.

"No."

"Do you enjoy giving pain to innocent people?"

His posture is rigid as he looks back at her.

" _No_."

"Is that not enough to tell you that you are not like him?"

"I didn't care if Eric was even alive. I just kept going."

"He _deserved_ it."

Four shakes his head.

"You know what? I wouldn't have cared either!"

"Well we'll never know for sure, won't we?"

When he steps out the door and slams it behind him, Tris runs to grab her cell phone and shoes, then follows him.

She wasn't going to let him walk away, except his strides were so fast, she'd never catch up.

"Four!" She calls out, but he doesn't falter.

Tris gives up. She stops and lets her hands fall to her sides.

"Fine. Then I guess I'm just like you." She calls out, her voice incredibly firm and enraged.

He stills. "Tris, you are-"

"Do you remember my first game? I went against Peter?"

He turns and opens his mouth but she only cuts him off.

"Yes, he shot me twice. Yes, he hurt me to the point where I had accepted death. But _I_ shot him twice, too. _I_ kicked and punched his bullet wounds. And do you know what else happened? I laughed. I enjoyed it."

She takes a step back as he takes one forward. "So don't tell me what I am and am not like if _you_ can't take what I'm telling you."

With that, Tris swings toward the direction of their room and walks the few steps to open the door before he could reach her. When she grabs the knob and twists it with force angrily, she gasps in pain as it doesn't budge.

The door was locked and she didn't have her key.

Tris grits her teeth in resignation as she waits for Four to return to her side, but instead of unlocking the door, he waits for her to look at him.

"Four, just unlock it."

Her phone vibrates and she reaches for her phone. It's an unknown ID but the message _Hey, i_ _t's Myra_ flashes across her screen clear enough for both of them to read, and she bites her tongue.

"Who's Myra?"

Tris turns to look at him finally. "Unlock the door."

Four narrows his eyes but she only shoves her phone back into her pocket. "That is so _irrelevant_ right now, just open the goddamn door."

Tris becomes still as he grabs her arm and pulls it toward him. He drops his key into her open palm but before he can pull back, Tris catches his hand. She squeezes her eyes shut and draws out a long breath.

"We need to stop."

"Easier said than done. Arguing seems to be a must every time I talk to you."

"So does you walking away."

"As if you haven't walked away from me plenty of times."

"I'm _trying_ to make amends."

"Amends for _what_?" Four steps back, letting her hand fall.

When she doesn't answer, he shakes his head in frustration.

Four suddenly grabs back the key from her hand, unlocks the door, walks into the room, and falls limply onto his bed. He uses his arm to shield his eyes and lets out a large exhale.

Tris closes the door behind her and stares at him from the doorway. They both are quiet for what seems like hours until she finally breaks the silence.

"Why is this so hard?"

"I don't know." He sighs.

They're silent again, and if Tris didn't know any better, she'd think Four had fallen asleep.

"We said we'd stop fighting." She says as she massages her forehead with her hand.

Four removes his arm from his eyes and frowns. "I know."

Tris feels her phone vibrate with another message and grabs it. This time, the message wasn't from Myra.

MATTHEW- **Hey. I gave Myra your number again. You were right, she came back to our room abou** **t 20 minutes later.**

MATTHEW- **She wasn't too happy I'd been following her but wouldn't you follow your roommate in the middle of the night?**

She contemplates on responding before finally exiting. Tris would deal with it later. Besides, she didn't get their numbers to become best buddies, only to discuss things in a formal manner.

 _But how will they open up to me if I don't even talk?_

She pushes those thoughts aside and looks up to see Four staring at her. Her cheeks get warm again as he examines her face while drawing his lower lip between his teeth in thought.

Even though she wants to look away and hide, she stares right back. She was always watching Four and studying the features on his face and body, but she never realized how uneasy it could make you feel because you really don't know what the other person is thinking about you.

"You blame yourself for your parent's death, no matter how much people tell you otherwise."

She frowns at his words but nods.

"As much as I disagree with you, I stopped arguing with you about it."

Tris feels her expression harden as she realizes what he's getting at.

"The same way, I know. I know there are traits in me that are _just like him._ " Four presses his lips together. "The reason why I stopped trying to convince you that you had nothing to do with your parent's death was because I knew you wouldn't listen. The only person that can make that decision is you."

She looks down to play with her fingers before looking back up at the ceiling in resignation. Her voice is quiet when she answers, "Understood."

Tris stands suddenly and drags her feet over to the sofa with her phone clutched in her hand. As she sits down, she leans against the armrest and brings her knees up to her chest.

She places her phone strategically on her right so that it doesn't fall through the space between the cushion and reaches up to free her hair from its ponytail. She shakes her head and sighs in fatigue.

Tris feels someone sit next to her and is rewarded with immediate warmth when a blanket is thrown over her body. She pulls it more tightly to her and exhales as the silence looms between them. She looks over at Four and almost blushes at the fact that they were basically sharing a cover.

"Myra was that girl making out with Edward, remember?"

The corners of his mouth turn up and Tris can't help but smile back. She liked it when he smiled.

"Oh, I remember. If I recall correctly, you were horrified."

Tris rolls her eyes. "I wasn't _horrified_. Just..."

"If you say you're not used to seeing people-"

Tris extends her left leg and kicks him before he can continue. When she brings her leg back to her chest, Four tilts his head. She sighs and glances down at her phone.

"A few days back, I couldn't sleep. I went out and ended up at the cafeteria. I ran into Myra there too." She tucks a lock of hair behind her ear. "We had a small conversation. I asked for her number and told her not to talk about our meeting. I don't want to risk anything."

He draws in a long breath. "I know that's not the first time you've left the room, Tris."

Tris presses her hands to her cheeks, not knowing how to respond. She opens her mouth but he interrupts her.

"How do you know you can trust Myra?"

"She's dating Edward." She replies while interlocking her fingers together to stop from fidgeting. "I figured, no one knows about her sneaking out to be with him at night, so if she ever does turn on me, I could use that against her."

Four gives her a raises brow. "So you're placing your trust in someone who makes out with her provider?"

Tris kicks him again, but this time, leaves her leg stretched out. "I just know, okay? Trust me."

"I do."

She looks down again to hide her face out of guilt.

"So do you think Myra can help us?"

Tris nods. "Yeah. Tori won't tell us anything, but Edward was pretty helpful that day we met with him, so maybe-"

"You can ask Myra to ask Edward about the games, right? I don't know. Tris, how did Edward and Myra even know each other? Start from there. Remember he was so protective of her? Do you think he knew her before the games?"

Four leans his head back. "I don't think you should text unless it's extremely important. I'm pretty sure they'll be able to see our texts. Meeting up would be safer because there aren't cameras in _every_ hall."

Tris is quiet for a moment. When she looks straight at Four, she wears a frown.

"You shouldn't."

"Shouldn't what?"

"Trust me. You asked me earlier if you should trust me. You shouldn't."

"And why not?"

"What do you mean, why not? I've gotten Myra's number and had it for a while. I sneak out. I try to figure out how to escape on my own instead of telling you-"

She stops talking when she sees Four fighting off a grin.

"Why are you smiling?" She asks, clearly not getting what was so amusing.

He opens his mouth, then chuckles. "I don't know. If I take this the wrong way, we're just going to end up fighting again."

Tris exhales a deep breath as he shrugs and continues. "You know, we met a little more than a week ago."

"But trust is something we should work on since it's kind of a life or _death_ situation."

"Look, I'm not going to get mad at you for not telling me. It happened. But if you're going to finish telling me all this and then sneak out _again_ without telling me about your plans in advance, _then_ we have a problem."

Tris grabs her phone from her temporary hiding spot and holds it up. "Okay, I'm thinking of texting Myra right now, and I'm thinking I should try to talk to her. Since there are no games, I wanted to use all the time we had and try to figure out why we're here."

"And what will be the the first thing you ask her?"

"How she knows Edward."

Four nods. "That's right." He gestures toward her phone. "Why didn't you plan anything earlier in the morning?"

Tris shakes her head. "I wanted... I needed to talk to you. About anything _you_ wanted. Not me."

He gives her a small smile. "Oh wow, look at you. So considerate."

"Yeah. Although, that didn't turn out as smoothly as I imagined."

"It's alright. We're working on it."

Tris studies Four's expression. Soft, and vulnerable. Nothing like the cold and intimidating man she could see in an instant. She closes her eyes and wills for herself to save the sweet expression into her memory.

"Already so sleepy."

"I'm not-"

"Go to sleep. Seriously. I know you didn't sleep. A nap won't hurt you."

"The point of starting right away, is to start right away."

"And the point of a nap, is to sleep for half an hour or so."

Tris opens her mouth to snap back but ends up yawning instead.

"Oh, what did I tell you?!" He laughs. Tris grabs the blanket and snatches it away from his legs, leaving him exposed to the chilled air. He grabs it back and ends up pulling so hard that she shrieks as she's pulled right along.

The next couple seconds are a blur as Tris feels her body fly forward. She extends her arms in front of her to catch herself but ends up completely falling flat onto Four's legs. She smacks his arm hard enough for it to burn and pushes herself back up.

"Sorry." He tells her as he rubs the spot she'd punched him. "I didn't mean to pull that hard."

"Oh shut up, I know you enjoyed it." Tris replies.

She keeps a straight face as she realizes what she said and waits for Four to react.

"Huh, you're right, I did."

This time, Tris laughs when she topples on Four's chest. Her heart was racing and her mind was getting light from how close they were, but she doesn't push herself away.

When Tris looks up at Four, they both become quiet. Her eyes rake over his facial features, his smirk, his tousled hair, his mysterious cloudy eyes, and she thinks back to the top of the Ferris wheel. That was the last time she'd been able to stand so close to his face. When she was able to study him as he was distracted by the height.

But this wasn't anything out of the ordinary. They were close again, and he _was_ distracted.

Just for a different reason.

"Did I ever tell you that I like the color of your eyes?"

Tris hums. "I don't recall."

"Well, I like the color of your eyes."

"Thank my parents."

Tris looks away suddenly as she remembers her mom and dad. _How the fucking hell would he thank them?_

Four's voice is soft as he realizes they'd reached a touchy topic. "Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Prior."

"You know my last name?" She asks with a hushed voice so that he wouldn't be able to hear her voice shake.

"I saw your profile, I remember."

Tris lets out a sigh just when there's suddenly a low buzz. She feels her phone vibrate and chooses to ignore it, but Four was already waiting for her to check who it was.

MYRA: **I know we're supposed to keep it low-key but a confirmation you're alive and well would be appreciated.**

TRIS: **I'm alive, Myra.**

She tosses her phone to the side as soon as she's finished and purses her lips together. Yes, everyone was alive except for Rita, but no one was well, whether it be physically or emotionally.

"I just feel like we haven't been as productive as we could have been these past couple days. We were actually getting a lead on something." Tris confesses a second later.

"And then you got stuck in a room." Four points to the blank screen. "I realize that you really want to escape, we all do, but... one thing at a time. Maybe you getting kidnapped was a warning because we _were_ getting a lead."

Tris feels sudden fear as he finishes his sentence. Someone was always watching them.

She knew. Disobeying the rules was going against everything the games wanted them to do.

But if they ever wanted to get help. If they ever wanted to break free.

It was worth the risk.

"We'll just have to be more careful. That's all we can do at this point."

Four doesn't say anything. He doesn't need to, because Tris already knows that he agrees.

* * *

 _ **A/N- Fuck, clearly I suck at schedules. I'm so sorry guys, I have summer school, and I completely underestimated the amount of work we could receive, it's ridiculous.**_

 _ **I mean, if one day of summer school=one week of regular school, obviously there'd be a lot of work.**_

 _ **I'm just dumb.**_

 _ **Anyway, hopefully, you guys liked this chapter. I'm an idiot and I don't know how to use my brain to think creatively which is why it takes forever for me to write... but I'm trying.**_

 _ **Review, follow, favorite, I don't know lol. I'll update as soon as I can, but I will not abandon this story okay!?**_

 _ **I love you guys, see you again later. And thanks for the past reviews! Thanks so much.**_


	24. Chapter 24

Soft snores, and a low heart beat. Tris feels relaxed as she lazily forces her eyes open. She was lying on something so soft, so warm.

No, not something- _someone_.

Tris tilts her head up and realizes that she'd in fact fallen asleep on top of Four, who had his arm wrapped unconciously around her.

She lays her head back on his chest and sighs as her vision blurs again.

~.~.~

"Wait, right now? You want to come now?"

Tris yawns as she sits up on the couch, a chill in the air. She immediately focuses on Four, who was talking on the phone while sitting on her bed and facing away from her.

She pushes herself off the sofa and frowns as the blanket falls onto the floor. Tris could feel her hair on the back of her neck sticking with sweat.

A shower sounded nice. When was the last time she showered anyway?

"Okay. Who else?" Four asks as he shifts on her bed.

She wonders why he's seated there as she walks over to the drawer filled with her clothes. Longing hits her as she opens it, only to find black shirts and pants. Hell, she even missed the colors of her old outfits.

Tris picks out a pair of leggings and a sweatshirt before grabbing a towel and entering the bathroom without locking it behind her. She makes sure her phone is with her and takes one more glance at Four, who didn't even notice she was up and moving.

When she steps into the bathtub and turns on the shower, she gasps at how cold the water is but doesn't turn away. Tris stands still as she faces the shower head and lets the stream pound on her face until it gradually starts to send warmth back into her body.

She needed to figure out what to do. It was frustrating being in a place and not knowing what was going on, like putting on a blindfold and leaving it up to faith to decide what to do with you.

Or maybe it was just her. She needed control, and here, she didn't have it.

As Tris grabs the shampoo and starts slathering it on her head, she mentally makes a list of any details she knew so far.

They were always being watched. Long enough that whoever took them knew their favorite whereabouts, best skills, size, and their past. Even now, there was no use in denying the cameras that covered every hallway, every corner.

They were underground. That explained the consistent chill in the air wherever they were and the coolness of the walls. Even though the walls were painted, Tris was observant enough to have noticed the chipped paint and stone layer beneath.

They all had no one to notice they were gone. This, she wasn't completely sure. Zeke and Uriah must have been party animals and sociable, maybe their friends would feel their absence. But she _did_ know that she didn't have anyone, Four didn't have anyone, and Zeke and Uriah's mom didn't live with them.

Their 'attendants' knew more than they let on. For one, Tori was just an asshole who was unwilling to help at all and use them for her own amusement. But two, Edward was different. He was young, in love with one of the group members, and sort of easier to ask things from.

And lastly, some of the members from Group A had the same urge of escaping just like Tris, she just needed to find them.

Tris steps out of the shower after wrapping a black towel around her body and reaches for her phone as she remembers that she hadn't replied to Matthew's text. She wanted to sound friendly, but not _too_ friendly.

TRIS: **That's good, Matthew. Next time don't follow her.**

She rereads her message before quickly hitting send, not wanting to overthink anything. Tris immediately stills when a frantic knocking interrupts her calm peace of mind. She hurriedly closes her phone and slides it far away from her.

Before she can even ask Four what he wants, the door flies open and someone barges in.

"What the hell?!" Tris screeches as she steps back, almost killing herself from slipping back into the tub.

When the door slams closed again, she narrows her eyes when she sees who it is. For some reason, Tris wasn't happy seeing her. She didn't realize she was still a bit bitter after the paint gun game, where she'd taken the flag.

"Christina, you better have a good fucking-"

"Shh, not right now. definitely not right now." Christina tosses the clothes Tris had picked out earlier and sits on the closed toilet seat. "Get dressed."

"Do you mind?" Tris questions as she rakes one hand through her wet hair and clutches the towel more tightly to her chest with the other.

When Christina makes no effort to turn around, Tris sucks in a deep breath and awkwardly adjusts her towel. "What happened?"

"Everything. Just put your _clothes_ on."

"Then turn around, Christina! I'm not kidding!"

She opens her mouth to argue more but decides against it when she realizes Tris wasn't going to move until she couldn't see her. Christina lets out a gush of air and crosses her arms as she shifts on the toilet seat to face the door.

"Quickly."

Tris grits her teeth in annoyance as she shoves on her underwear and bra, she was uncomfortable with Christina there but eager to know what was so important that she had to come barging in the first place.

"You have nice legs."

Tris throws her towel at Christina. "Turn around!"

She rolls her eyes and returns to her previous position. Not even five seconds later, Tris looks up to find Christina staring at her once again. She could feel her eyes automatically squint into a murderous stare.

"I'm sorry, it's just that you're so pretty, Tris."

She groans as she points toward the door. "Face that way."

" _Okay._ "

It's after Tris has stepped into her leggings and is absentmindedly fiddling with the strings of her shirt that Christina stands and strides over to her.

"Alright, I'm done waiting. Now is _not_ the time to get lost in your thoughts, I'm serious!" She yells as she grabs the towel from the floor and forces Tris to bend her head low.

Her hands are quick as she impatiently blots and flips Tris's wet hair over to securely wrap it.

"I don't understand why you've even forced yourself in here if you're not going to tell me what's going on, you could have stayed out on my bed for all I care."

Christina stands straight after tightening and positioning the towel properly. "Because I want to tell you something that I don't want anyone else to hear."

"Okay." Tris replies while grabbing her phone again and slipping it into her front pocket. "I'm done now, so tell me."

She sighs and looks away as she waits while Christina tilts her head down and plays with her fingers. Tris bites the inside of her cheek, and she's planning to leave the bathroom when she suddenly hears a sniff.

It takes less than two seconds for her to register Christina's teary eyes. Tris instinctively guides her back over to the toilet to make her sit down.

"Who do I need to kill?" She asks, surprised by the concern in her voice.

Christina laughs and wipes at her eyes. "It's nothing. This is completely irrelevant. It's just- I want to go home, Tris. I'm so tired."

And just like that, any sort of bitterness toward her is thrown out the window.

They all were in this together, they were all trying to survive. Tris almost kicks herself for even thinking of having a grudge against anyone and not being the bigger person.

"And I know I sound like a complete loser," Christina continues as she wipes at a falling tear from her cheek, "but I don't want to do this anymore."

Tris watches another tear slip down her face. She grabs both of Christina's hands and waits for her to look up.

"I understand. We all want to get out of here, we just need to figure out how. But stay strong for right now. We'll get through this, Christina. We all will."

Christina gives her a watery smile and Tris reaches up to pull the towel off her head. She shakes her hair, not caring that it was still damp, and hands it to Christina to wipe her face.

"Alright, let's go." She stands suddenly. "Will is waiting."

"Will?" Tris questions. "He's here too?"

"Yes. It's because- well we'll explain once we're out."

Tris follows Christina and frowns when she sees both Four and Will seated together.

"What's going on?"

Will pushes himself off the couch. "I overheard some stuff."

"We both were coming back from the training room and by the intersection of our two group hallways, there were two people standing there and talking."

Tris shifts from one foot to the other. "What did they look like?"

Christina pipes up. "One was a pretty girl with brown hair. The other was wearing-"

"Myra and Edward." She cuts off while glancing at Four. His hair was ruffled and his eyes rake over her face just as hers do to him. "It must've been them?"

He furrows his brows and looks back at Will. "What were they saying?"

"Okay. This is the weird part. The guy... I've never seen him before. He was comforting the girl. She kept saying she didn't want to be next in the games."

Christina flops onto Four's bed. "But he kept reassuring her that she wouldn't be next and that he'd make sure of it." She turns to look at Tris again. "I think... Edward you say. I think he's controlling the games."

Tris bites the inside of her cheek to suppress her hopeless laugh. She thought they were maybe getting somewhere. Instead, she just learned that Edward was giving Myra false comforting sentences to calm her down.

Four turns back to Will. "That's... a good theory. But, sorry to crush your confidence when I tell you that it's wrong."

"What other possible explanation could there be?" Christina throws her hands up, sitting straight again with a raised voice. "We've never even seen him before? How do you both know who he is?"

Tris opens her mouth to respond, when she suddenly looks down at her phone, thinking better.

"What is it? You're not telling us something?"

She looks up at Christina. "Call everyone. We should go to the training room. Not just the four of us, but our group as a whole."

* * *

"So you're saying that Edward is another Tori, but for Group A?" Lynn asks, finally looking up from fiddling with her phone.

"Yes." Tris replies.

Everyone was seated in somewhat of a circle on the blue mats except Lynn who had pulled up the table near them and sat on that instead. Tris secretly wishes she hadn't, she was tired of craning her neck to see her.

She was basically sitting back-to-back with Uriah, too tired to move over to the wall to lean on. Marlene sat next to Uriah, Christina and Will were by the wall with Al standing next to them, Zeke's outstretched foot was resting against her thigh, Shauna was seated criss cross beside him, and Four was surprisingly nowhere near her.

Tris couldn't fight off her immediate blush as he'd brushed past her while they were headed toward the training room. They'd slept next to each other, and she hadn't even thought about it until then.

So it sent an unexpected stab of pain when he'd hesitated, then continued walking on after she'd seated herself next to Uriah and didn't meet her eye.

No, she was not just hurt, she was annoyed as well.

"The thing is," Tris speaks again to fight off her frustration and keep her voice neutral. "Edward is a hell of a better person in general than Tori. It's not fair. He's younger, more understanding, and certainly more willing to answer questions than Tori, who thinks she's fucking good at riddles."

"Well, she needs _someone_ to practice on." Uriah answers, trying to lighten her mood. She could feel the vibrations of his voice against her back.

Shauna frowns. "Tori is afraid of the cameras. It seems that Edward isn't."

"Which raises the theory again, that maybe Edward is behind it all?" Christina suggests.

"What was it that they said again?"

Christina rolls her eyes at Uriah. "Edward was hugging Myra, looking 'oh so concerned' as she expressed how she did not want to be next, and Edward being the affectionate partner he is, reassured her that she wouldn't be."

"That's just it." Tris sighs as she pulls on her high ponytail. Her hair had dried enough for her to tie it up in the last fifteen minutes. "He's just reassuring her, but no one really knows."

Zeke looks at Tris. "You got locked in Tori's room before, correct?"

She raises her eyebrows, caught off guard, but nods. "Yeah, and there was a tv that I could use to watch you guys for the first five minutes."

Everyone turns to look at her, and she realizes that she'd never really talked about it. She looks at Four and notices that he was, for the first time in the whole meeting, staring at her. She couldn't read his eyes, but she could tell that he was paying attention, and it hits her that she never went into depth about it to him either.

"The tv," Al repeats, "It just clicked on? And you saw everyone?"

"Well, not- I mean-"

"If you don't remember, it's okay." Marlene tilts her head.

Tris shuts her eyes. "No, give me a second."

She imagines being in the room again. The panic and shock after realizing she was trapped, and the desperateness she'd felt. She'd broken down and felt useless. Revisiting the emotions hit her hard.

"The screen." Tris opens her eyes again. "In Tori's room, there was a screen, it flashed red when the time was up. The door clicked, and after a minute or so it became white again."

"So how did you see us?" Will asks.

"When I went to the screen, it had buttons on the side. Rewind, pause, fast forward, play, the on and off switch, and... I think two buttons that said cafeteria and infirmary."

"Why were you there in the first place? Tori's room." Al asks.

"We were both together. We figured Tori didn't sleep in the infirmary. So we looked around and found her room."

Tris looks at Four in surprise, but again feels a flash of irritation when he still wasn't looking at her. Not only had he finally just talked, he'd mentioned her in the same sentence too. She didn't understand... Was he mad at her? What had she done?

Al stands even straighter, uncrossing his bulky arms from his chest as he scoffs. "You were with her? So you just _left_ her there?"

Four narrows his eyes all of a sudden, showing resentment by his accusation, but Tris was quick enough to notice the way he was momentarily caught off guard. His voice is slow and quiet, but hard. "What did you just-"

"Okay. That's _enough_. It happened. It's over. Just look at the good in what happened, which was that they both found Tori's room, and there's a screen she can use to see through cameras. Now we know, that whatever we do, Tori can watch us from those two places."

Tris looks over at Lynn, who was now standing as well, looking irritated. A small silence looms after, and when she's sure the hidden threat in her outburst has fully taken effect on them, she sits on the table once again.

With a deep breath, Tris grabs her phone as something to play with since her palms were sweaty and she was nervous.

Shauna coughs. "We're not getting anywhere. There are cameras, we're underground, Tori and Edward know more about this hell, Myra has a relationship... Now we need to think of a plan. We need to trust each other and work together if we want to get out of here."

"Isn't that a rule from somewhere? _Don't_ trust anyone?"

Will looks at Al. "By all means, if you have any better ideas, we'd love to hear them. Clearly, we don't have any at the moment."

"As a matter of fact, I do." He responds as if he was waiting for someone to ask him that all along. "I don't think we should do anything at all. Just go to the games as we should. Because the last time _you,"_ He points to Tris with his finger. "tried to do something about it, you were caught and gone for two days."

"And the last time that I went through the games, the last time any of us went through the games, we brushed past death." Tris feels her voice become louder. "Don't you see that there _is_ no safe option? Everywhere screams death. But if you're implying that continuing the games is the safe option, without doing anything else except sit miserably on our asses as we wait for a rescue that will never come-"

Tris stands swiftly, leaving her sentence hanging in the air as she ignores the way Zeke's foot and her phone flies off her leg, and how Uriah has to catch himself with his palms from falling backward. She looks back at Al.

"There's no games, the screen has no time, who knows how long it will take for the screen to display our next mini game. A couple more days? A week? Every second is crucial, and you want to sit around?"

"So you're just going to continue with whatever you think is right, not giving a shit that you're going to die." A statement. She didn't recall ever hearing him swear.

The air was heavy in the room, and she comes to a realization that not only was Al waiting for an answer but so was everyone else.

"I care about you." He strides toward her and grabs her wrist, vulnerability, and despair showcased in front of her. She wills herself to stay still. For some reason she wasn't surprised, she'd known Al liked her, she just never wanted to believe it. "I care about everyone here. I'm not going to watch everyone die. You die."

"Al." Zeke's voice held a warning. _Leave her alone._

Al ignores him. "Tris."

 _You're hurting me. Stop._ The voice inside her head screams at him, but she found her mouth couldn't move and she was frozen in place.

His grip tightens even more like a hand cuff on too tight, as if he heard her thoughts and didn't care. "Think about what you're doing, Tris."

He wants her to be like every other girl. He doesn't want Tris to be the hero, he wants to protect her. He thought she was the smallest and weakest.

But she wasn't. She never was.

Despite how angry she felt, she looks at Al with a steady gaze, willing every single nerve in her body to let her speak. "I'd rather die trying, than die without doing anything at all. Whether you join me, or not, because I don't need your protection. I never have, and I certainly never will."

She pulls her hand out of his grasp, knowing very well that even though she tries to hide it, white marks were visible.

"Tris?" She hears Uriah's concerned voice as if it were a mile away, even as she slowly walks backward in his direction.

"Fine." Tris replies, her voice barely audible, her eyes never leaving Al as she rubs her wrist.

Four speaks up with an authoritative tone. "So the plan for right now is to be aware of everything. When we're in the observation room, try to look carefully for any devices or something helpful. When we're free, try and explore more about the area, any little details like the chipped paint and stone. Whatever you find will helpful. Maybe everyone can also try talking to Tori so we can see if there's anyone she trusts more than the other. Text with anything new you hear or find."

Tris finally looks away from Al, and her gaze swipes the room. "The lesson we all learned from me disappearing, is that it's too dangerous to be alone. So we need to stick with someone at all times."

"A side mission," Marlene sums up. "follow whatever the rules are so we don't get in trouble or raise suspicion, but when we're free-"

"Investigate like hell." Will finishes.

"That's it? Play detective?" Al interrupts.

Zeke pushes himself off the floor. "As of now, the plan is to search for clues. When we get more clues, we can think of an actual plan. I don't see why I'm explaining this to you if you don't want to actually do anything."

"I'll help." His voice is quiet. "But if anything goes wrong-"

"Then at least we'll have done _something_." Tris repeats herself from earlier, not looking at Al as she bends down to scoop her phone from the floor. Uriah beats her to it and hands it to her instead.

As the room begins to stir with activity again, Marlene stalks over to Lynn, and Uriah places a hand on her arm Tris's arm.

"Did you get any sleep?"

She nods. "Yeah. Better than I have in a while."

"Good." He sighs. "Tris, what's the real reason you went into Tori's room? I know-"

She shifts closer to him, and he moves his hand from her arm to her shoulder. "There were... These papers. I saw her going through them in the infirmary, and I just kept thinking to myself, I need to know what's inside. So when I was locked in her room..."

"What did they say?"

When she doesn't answer, he gives her shoulder a squeeze.

"They were profiles. Our name, and just a bunch of information about our hangouts and something about our past."

"Your parents?" His voice is gentle.

"Yeah." She whispers. "Everyone's was in there."

"Did you look at mine?"

She meets his gaze. "No."

He frowns. "You know, Tris. I trust you, and I wouldn't have minded if you read it. We all trust you."

"I don't know, it had everyone's personal information. I didn't-"

"I get it. But maybe you should've read them because we don't know if you'll ever have a chance to sneak into her room again."

Tris exhales. "I don't know. I read Four's profile and he got so mad at me."

Uriah looks at her for several seconds, unmoving as he understands the deeper meaning in her sentence, then gestures toward the phone in her hand. "The least you could've done was take pictures."

The moment the sentence leaves his mouth, she slaps her forehead and groans. The thought never crossed her mind. "What the fuck, why didn't I-"

"It's okay, Tris."

"No, I- that's a great idea. I wasn't thinking, I ended up breaking my phone but I should've-"

"Like Lynn said, there's nothing we can do now." Uriah gives her a quick hug. "I better go, Marlene is waiting."

"Yeah." She sighs. "Go ahead."

Tris hasn't even moved an inch when Al comes and blocks her way. "Tris, I'm sorry."

She stands still. "Why are you sorry? You have your opinion, I have mine."

"I know. I was being disrespectful about it though, I didn't mean to be so rude."

Tris shakes her head as she tries to choose her next words. "It's... okay, Al. You don't need to apologize, we're all suffering together."

"Okay. I didn't want you to stay mad at me."

She opens her mouth but Al cuts her off. "I meant what I said."

"About what?"

"About caring about you."

When she stands, still watching him, he gestures toward her direction.

"I like you."

She smiles. "I like you too, Al."

Al hears the friendliness in her tone, and his expression becomes more nervous. "No. You don't understand, I like you. More than a friend."

Time freezes. She looks past him and makes eye contact with Will, who silently asks her if she's alright. She nods, then looks back at Al.

"Al, I like you, but... nothing more than that." She reaches up and lays a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry. I care about you too, I do, but only as a friend."

"I see." He glances at the ceiling. "I understand. It's fine."

Tris waits for him to look back down, and offers him a smile. "Thank you."

She reaches forward to hug him and finds herself holding her breath from inhaling his lemon scent.

After he pulls back, he gives her one last smile and finally leaves. She follows Al with her eyes and notices that when she turns back to look to her right, Four was doing the same. Glaring, actually. Feeling another burst of vexation, she strides over to him.

"There's always _something_ I've done wrong, huh?"

When Four registers that Tris was in front of him, he squints his eyes. "What?"

"What did I do, elbow you in my sleep? Take too much of the blanket?" She continues, mockery dripping from her words.

He looks away as he crosses his arms in bewilderment, as if he wasn't sure he was hearing her right, then meets her eyes again. "Neither."

"Then tell me. Because I'm tired of-"

"Show me your wrist."

"Excuse me?"

His voice lowers into a more gentle tone. "Show me your wrist."

After a moment, she slowly pulls out her hand from her sweatshirt pocket and watches as Four grabs it carefully. She holds her breath while he turns it over in his hand and runs his thumb over the dark marks.

"Piece of fuck." He mutters under his breath.

Tris ignores him and jerks her hand away. "If you want to be left alone, then tell me, Four."

He returns his arm to his side. "I don't want to be left alone."

"Then what?"

Four starts walking, ignoring her, and Tris catches up so they're going the same pace. He doesn't speak again until after they've made their first turn in the hallway.

He rubs his eyes as he changes the subject. "I'm not sure if anything was helpful today."

She's quiet while they walk, and she runs her fingers against the cool wall like she usually did as they turn another corner.

"I feel like we definitely needed to let the group know everything we'd learned, but the plan sucks."

Tris slows down her pace as they turn the final corner to their room. "It's a reasonable plan. We barely have any information. Besides, the _real_ planning is for the two of us."

She looks over at his figure, not letting him escape. "Why were you ignoring me?"

Four glances down at his feet. "What makes you say that?"

Tris pauses in her step and looks at him in disbelief. "You didn't sit next to me, and you didn't make eye contact with me at all, is that not trying to avoid someone? I thought we were good."

He frowns. "I just didn't sit, there's nothing much to it."

Tris pauses, almost convinced that she really was making a big deal out of nothing when she suddenly catches the uncertainty in his eye.

"No, I know something was bothering you. You were going to sit with me until something happened."

She shakes her head when they finally stop by the door. Already seeing the disagreement on his face, she continues. "We just talked about trust with each other. I don't want to fight. Don't keep things like this from me. If you're feeling something, then let me know, Four."

Both of them stand, facing each other.

"Tell you what I'm feeling." He repeats.

"Yes. Stop bottling away everything." She answers, willing him to be truthful. She waits, and Tris is almost sure that he isn't going to say anything at all until he finally exhales.

"I felt," His voice is soft. "guilty. I couldn't function after you disappeared when I left you. I felt, that you were lying when you told me beating up Eric was fine. I felt, that you were afraid of me because I couldn't control myself like my father couldn't. I felt, serene when I was able to sleep next to you today."

Four stares at her with a heavy gaze. "And I felt, like I wanted to kill Al when he confessed his feelings for you. Because whatever he said, is the way that I, feel about you."

Tris didn't realize she was holding her breath until he finishes, so she draws in air through her lungs sharply. Could he hear the loud frantic beat in her ears? The sound of her blood rushing through her head with each pulse? Or notice the way her hands were trembling?

No, she couldn't feel that way. No relationships in the games. She wasn't going to try to fall in love here, it was so dangerous.

But her heart disagreed with the logical side of her.

There was no denying it, she'd already fallen for Four. Hard.

She felt like she was going to double over from how intensely her stomach was giving her butterflies. Tris knew he was waiting for her, so she meets his careful stare with a sudden boldness.

"Then show me." Her voice is low as she steps toward him, wanting him to end her hesitative thoughts. "Prove it. How do you feel about me?"

Four stands motionless, watching her with an unreadable expression.

Then all of a sudden, he moves forward, grabs a hold of her face with both his hands, and slams his lips into hers.

Tris gasps when she hits the wall behind her, and it takes only a second for her whole body to go into a complete frenzy. Never in her life, had she ever felt so many sparks of electricity course through her veins until this moment. His touch sent sensations she never knew she was capable of feeling.

Her mind was freaking out and all she could see was a hot white beneath her eyes, but her body was different. What it screamed was desire, and the way it moved, showed no trace of nervousness whatsoever. Her hands automatically slide against Four's body until they find his scalp, and her fingers instinctively curl into his tousled hair, evoking a low moan from him.

Her legs were slightly shaking. As if reading her mind, he grabs Tris beneath the thighs and hoists her up, tilting her head to deepen the kiss as she wraps her legs firmly around his waist.

She's so sure her lungs are going to burst when he finally pulls away, breathing as if he's run a marathon. Tris forces her eyes open, gripping the wall behind her as support to help her stay upright when he lets her go with one arm.

She didn't know what to say. In fact, she didn't want to say anything at all. Tris wanted him to stop fiddling with the knob and come back to her.

Finally unlocking the door, Four carries Tris inside and slams it shut behind him. He sets her down to the floor.

"Do you-"

"Just shut up." She interrupts before he can get another word out. Tris pulls him to her so that their lips meet again, and she doesn't have to open her eyes to know that he is smiling.

He walks backward while holding her close by the waist until they've both reached his bed. Tris keeps an arm around his neck as he lies her down.

She was too scared to let go. Too scared to be reminded of the situation she was trapped in.

"Tris-" He tries to mumble. She doesn't budge and kisses him harder. Realizing she wasn't going to listen, Four rests an arm on both sides of her head as he moves his lips against hers in a feverish manner. All she could think of was Four.

She wanted to inhale him as if he was a drug because she was so addicted to him. She wanted to be lost in this moment forever, safe away from the games.

But he turns his head so he could finally talk after being interrupted by her twice. She makes a sound of protest, but he only chuckles against her cheek.

"Tris, you need to breathe."

"I'm perfectly fine." But the way she could barely speak coherently proved otherwise.

He laughs breathlessly and brushes a light kiss on her lips, a gentle caress, before resting his forehead on hers. He blows out a gush of air that tickles her face. Four finally looks her in the eye-

-and his eyebrows immediately furrow. He raises a hand to wipe at her eyes with his thumb.

"You're crying." He whispers.

Tris moves to hide her face, embarrassed that she was suddenly breaking down, but Four catches her hand and places a kiss on her palm. He brushes a piece of hair that had escaped her ponytail behind her ear.

"Tris, are you okay?"

When she exhales, her breath comes out shaky. "For one fucking moment, I forgot that we were stuck in a place where we could die any second."

He moves aside so that's he's propped up on one elbow, facing her.

Tris laughs bitterly as she swipes at her cheek. "Sorry, I keep telling everyone that we're going to find a way out, but I-"

A tiny sob escapes her, and she covers her mouth quickly.

Without a second to spare, Four scoots closer and wraps his arms around her, pulling her tightly against his body. He waits patiently until all that's left are her little sniffles.

"Tris, I'm going to make you a promise, that I swear I will keep to the best of my ability."

She doesn't respond, only uses her sleeve to cover herself.

"I promise and I swear, that whenever you are by my side, I will keep you safe. So please don't be scared. Trust me."

"I do." She croaks.

Tris tries to bury her face in his shoulder to hide her incoming tears, but he shifts so she can't.

"Fuck." He murmurs as he wipes at the wetness beneath her eyes with a small smile. "Am I that bad of a kisser that you're crying?"

Tris laughs lightly at his attempt to cheer her up and shakes her head. "Sorry."

Her phone buzzes, and even though she chooses to ignore it, Four moves back so she can answer it.

MYRA- **Tris, I need to meet you in twenty minutes at the entrance of the cafeteria.**

"You should go." He tells her before she can say anything.

She nods and texts back with an 'ok', then tosses her phone to the side.

"Do you want to take a small nap for the mean time? Drink some water?" He turns to sit up but she immediately grips his arm.

"No just- don't leave me."

Four slowly lies back down and watches her, taking in every beautiful detail of her face.

Tris feels herself blush but doesn't move, because even if she did, Four wouldn't allow her.

"Thank you." He finally says.

"For?"

"For choosing me."

Tris places a hand underneath her cheek in thought and lowers her gaze to his stomach.

"Choosing you? I don't know what you're talking about. It was never a competition."

Four shakes his head at her incredulously. "You don't get it? I'm not the only one that-"

"-you're an idiot for even worrying. I only care about a guy with a number for his name."

When she removes her hand from her face and tilts her head up to look at him again, he's the one that can't stop kissing her.

* * *

 **A/N Hello, hello, hellooo!**

 **Follow, fave, and REVIEW because shit just went down, and the moment you've all been waiting for has happened-**

 **The motherfucking _kiss_.**

 **Sorry for not updating in a while, I'm extremely busy with my AP freaking summer notes which is so fucking thick, and I didn't even choose a summer reading book... it's unbelievable. I'm a little more than half way done, so wish me luck, because my school starts August 14.**

 **I don't know when the next update will come, but I can promise you that I will not abandon this story.**

 **Love you guys so much! Thank you for everyone who has reviewed and enjoyed the story so far! Bye!**


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